Firman Ends Ricard Test on Top

Following two and a half days of testing at the French track, all 20 nations completed a combined total of 16,000 km.

Mark Kershaw, A1 Team Ireland franchise principal said: "We had a great test, working on the set up of the car and setting the quickest time this morning. We're really pleased the way the car has gone today, it hasn't given us any problems, and thinhgs are looking good for the first race."

"The timings are very close, all the teams are within a couple of tenths of each other, so the races are going to be very competitive. But we're glad to be here and proud to be representing Ireland."

GP2 race winner Neel Jani was second fastest for the Swiss team, followed by another former Grand Prix driver, Jos Verstappen in the Dutch car.

The combined test times for all 20 nations were split by less than three seconds. Team USA set the fastest time of the week yesterday, with Scott Speed at the wheel.

Today's times:

Pos  Team             Time       Driver
 1.  Ireland          1:24.561 - Ralph Firman
 2.  Switzerland      1:24.617 - Neel Jani
 3.  Netherlands      1:24.646 - Jos Verstappen
 4.  New Zealand      1:24.800 - Matt Halliday
 5.  France           1:25.012 - Nicolas Lapierre
 6.  Portugal         1:25.067 - Alvaro Parente
 7.  Australia        1:25 312 - Will Power
 8.  Brazil           1:25.378 - Nelson Piquet Jr
 9.  Pakistan         1:25.472 - Adam Khan
10.  South Africa     1:25.509 - Stephen Simpson
11.  Malaysia         1:25.620 - Fairuz Fauzy
12.  Mexico           1:25.626 - Salvador Duran
13.  Great Britain    1:26.268. - Alex Lloyd
14.  Indonesia        1:26.291 - Ananda Mikola
15.  Usa              1:26.424 - Colin Fleming
16.  Lebanon          1:26.496 - Basil Shaaban 
17.  India            1:26.579 - Karun Chandhok
18.  Russia           1:26.805 - Roman Rusinov
19.  China            1:27.113 - Teng Yi Jiang

Fastest times overall:

 1.  USA              1.24.177 - Scott Speed
 2.  France           1.24.392 - Alex Premat
 3.  Ireland          1.24.561 - Ralph Firman
 4.  Brazil           1.24.574 - Nelson Piquet Jr
 5.  New Zealand      1.24.590 - Jonny Reid
 6.  Switzerland      1.24.617 - Neel Jani
 7.  Netherlands      1.24.646 - Jos Verstappen
 8.  Portugal         1.24.738 - Alvaro Parente
 9.  Malaysia         1.24.987 - Fairuz Fauzy
10.  Lebanon          1.25.012 - Kalil Beschir
11.  Great Britain    1.25.104 - Robbie Kerr
12.  Germany          1.25.211 - Timo Scheider
13.  Mexico           1.25.296 - Salvador Duran
14.  Australia        1.25.312 - Will Power
15.  Pakistan         1.25.374 - Adam Khan
16.  South Africa     1.25.509 - Stephen Simpson
17.  Indonesia        1.26.291 - Ananda Mikola
18.  India            1.26.579 - Karun Chandhok
19.  Russia           1.26.805 - Roman Rusinov
20.  China            1.27.113 - Teng Yi Jiang

All Timing Unofficial