Zuber tops first day at Paul Ricard
Andreas Zuber was comfortably fastest on the first day of this week's GP2 test at Paul Ricard on Tuesday
Zuber was the pacesetter in the morning and afternoon sessions for Minardi Piquet Sports, who have been impressive in post-season testing despite a poor 2007 campaign.
The 24-year-old's best lap of 1:12.741 in the afternoon session was a new GP2 lap record on the 3D configuration of the French circuit, which will be used throughout the four-day test.
Luca Filippi was second fastest overall for DPR, another team who have impressed after a difficult season. However, the Italian was three tenths of a second adrift of Zuber.
Pastor Maldonado had a strong day with reigning champions iSport, as he returned to a GP2 car for the first time since breaking his collarbone during the season and set the third-fastest time of the day.
F3 Euro Series champion Romain Grosjean was top rookie with former champions ART, while Adrian Valles completed the top five for FMS International.
World Series by Renault championship runner-up Ben Hanley only had half a day in the other FMS car, but the British driver was fourth fastest in the morning session, where the majority of the times were slower than the afternoon.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Andreas Zuber Minardi Piquet Sports 1:13.120 2. Pastor Maldonado iSport International 1:13.593 3. Luca Filippi DPR 1:13.900 4. Ben Hanley FMS international 1:13.909 5. Sebastien Buemi DAMS 1:14.110 6. Andy Soucek DPR 1:14.265 7. Adrian Valles FMS international 1:14.310 8. Karun Chandhok Arden international 1:14.345 9. Jerome d'Ambrosio Campos grand prix 1:14.534 10. Paolo Nocera Racing engineering 1:14.649 11. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:14.740 12. Ronain Grosjean ART Grand prix 1:15.010 13. Markus Niemela Racing engineering 1:15.096 14. Borja Garcia Arden international 1:15.170 15. Manuel Saez Merino Campos grand prix 1:15.222 16. Nathan Antunes Super Nova International 1:15.274 17. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:15.468 18. Carlo Van Dam BCN competicion 1:15.590 19. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1:15.590 20. Nicolas Lapierre iSport International 1:15.800 21. Matteo Puglisi Minardi Piquet Sports 1:15.809 22. Fabrizio Crestani Durango 1:16.360 23. Henri Karjalainen BCN competicion 1:16.696 24. Stephen Jelley Super Nova International 1:17.203 25. Harald Schleghelmilch Trident Racing 1:17.400 26. Davide Valsecchi ART 2:04.520 Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Andreas Zuber Minardi Piquet Sports 1:12.741 2. Luca Filippi DPR 1:13.090 3. Pastor Maldonado iSport International 1:13.213 4. Ronain Grosjean ART 1:13.262 5. Adrian Valles FMS international 1:13.483 6. Nicolas Lapierre iSport International 1:13.556 7. Borja Garcia Arden international 1.13.833 8. Davide Valsecchi ART 1:13.835 9. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:13.877 10. Karun Chandhok Arden international 1:13.879 11. Andy Soucek DPR 1:13.919 12. Sebastien Buemi DAMS 1:13.988 13. Jerome d`Ambrosio Campos grand prix 1:14.123 14. Paolo Nocera Racing engineering 1:14.243 15. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:14.340 16. Carlo Van Dam BCN competicion 1:14.503 17. Fabrizio Crestani Durango 1:14.641 18. Kasper Andersen FMS international 1:14.716 19. Markus Niemela Racing engineering 1:14.784 20. Matteo Puglisi Minardi Piquet Sports 1:15.032 21. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1:15.191 22. Nathan Antunes Super Nova International 1:15.469 23. Adrian Campos Suner Campos grand prix 1:15.763 24. Stephen Jelley Super Nova International 1:16.122 25. Henri Karjalainen BCN competicion 1:16.243 26. Harald Schleghelmich Trident Racing No time
Share Or Save This Story
F1 2019 game includes official driver transfers for first time
F1 testing: Toro Rosso's Albon on top, Mercedes starts to show pace
Michael Schumacher's top 10 F1 victories
What has changed as FOM and FIA appear more aligned on F1's future?
Ex-F1 race director Wittich defends Masi's decision-making at 2021 Abu Dhabi GP
Bearman blames Colapinto for "unacceptable" crash at Suzuka
Duke video archive: Macau 1990 watchalong with Anthony Davidson
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments