Van der Garde tops Abu Dhabi test
Giedo van der Garde capped off GP2 Asia's first pre-season test by topping the second and final day at Abu Dhabi
The Addax driver was the first to duck under the 1m49s barrier with a 1m48.499s lap in the new third-generation GP2 car, beating the pole time set by Oliver Turvey in the older car 12 months ago by 0.1s.
iSport's Sam Bird finished the day just under 0.3s short of van der Garde's time, with his former team-mate Jules Bianchi (ART) just behind him. Bianchi had earlier gone quickest during the morning session.
The day's running was cut short at both ends. Heavy morning fog delayed the start by an hour, and the session was brought to an early end when Coloni's James Jakes crashed heavily with 15 minutes remaining and damaged a barrier, preventing his rivals from being able to make a final run on new tyres.
Session one: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Jules Bianchi ART 1m50.007s 2. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m50.066s + 0.059s 3. Sam Bird iSport 1m50.120s + 0.113s 4. Charles Pic Addax 1m50.166s + 0.159s 5. Max Chilton Carlin 1m50.276s + 0.269s 6. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m50.343s + 0.336s 7. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m50.539s + 0.532s 8. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m50.544s + 0.537s 9. Josef Kral Arden 1m50.561s + 0.554s 10. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m50.616s + 0.609s 11. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m50.641s + 0.634s 12. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m50.787s + 0.780s 13. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m50.894s + 0.887s 14. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m50.969s + 0.962s 15. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m51.122s + 1.115s 16. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova 1m51.190s + 1.183s 17. Julian Leal Rapax 1m51.198s + 1.191s 18. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m51.347s + 1.340s 19. James Jakes Coloni 1m51.369s + 1.362s 20. Oliver Turvey Ocean 1m51.456s + 1.449s 21. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1m51.482s + 1.475s 22. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean 1m51.571s + 1.564s 23. Michael Herck Coloni 1m51.615s + 1.608s 24. Stefano Coletti Trident 1m51.760s + 1.753s 25. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m51.802s + 1.795s 26. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m52.141s + 2.134s Session two: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m48.499s 2. Sam Bird iSport 1m48.778s + 0.279s 3. Jules Bianchi ART 1m48.868s + 0.369s 4. Charles Pic Addax 1m49.156s + 0.657s 5. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m49.185s + 0.686s 6. Josef Kral Arden 1m49.220s + 0.721s 7. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m49.340s + 0.841s 8. Max Chilton Carlin 1m49.413s + 0.914s 9. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m49.431s + 0.932s 10. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m49.474s + 0.975s 11. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m49.591s + 1.092s 12. Stefano Coletti Trident 1m49.627s + 1.128s 13. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m49.740s + 1.241s 14. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean 1m49.888s + 1.389s 15. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova 1m49.914s + 1.415s 16. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m49.945s + 1.446s 17. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m49.956s + 1.457s 18. Oliver Turvey Ocean 1m49.982s + 1.483s 19. James Jakes Coloni 1m50.129s + 1.630s 20. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m50.207s + 1.708s 21. Julian Leal Rapax 1m50.310s + 1.811s 22. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m50.495s + 1.996s 23. Michael Herck Coloni 1m50.566s + 2.067s 24. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m50.703s + 2.204s 25. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1m50.727s + 2.228s 26. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m50.995s + 2.496s
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