Dolby stays on top in practice two

The session had been due to happen yesterday, but problems with the new street track's kerbs curtailed that plan. The next hurdle to clear was the potential for a drivers' strike, over promised payments, but that situation was also rectified.

British driver Dolby set a best time of 1m05.854s around the 2.733km track, set around the 2008 Olympic Games rowing and canoeing venue, to edge out Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool) by just over a quarter of a second.

Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) was third quickest, ahead of a couple of drivers who did not run yesterday: Alvaro Parente of FC Porto and local club Beijing Guoan's John Martin.

Of the other usual frontrunners, Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) was seventh fastest, and Max Wissel (FC Basel) ninth, one spot ahead of the flu-ridden Ben Hanley (Olympiacos). Points leader Davide Rigon (Anderlecht) was some 1.9 seconds off the pace in 17th.

Pos  Driver             Team                        Time
 1.  Craig Dolby        Tottenham Hotspur           1m05.854s
 2.  Frederic Vervisch  Liverpool FC                1m06.119s  + 0.265s
 3.  Robert Doornbos    Corinthians                 1m06.172s  + 0.318s
 4.  Alvaro Parente     FC Porto                    1m06.227s  + 0.373s
 5.  John Martin        Beijing Guoan               1m06.393s  + 0.539s
 6.  Julien Jousse      AS Roma                     1m06.415s  + 0.561s
 7.  Yelmer Buurman     AC Milan                    1m06.812s  + 0.958s
 8.  Giacomo Ricci      Galatasaray                 1m06.816s  + 0.962s
 9.  Max Wissel         FC Basel                    1m06.863s  + 1.009s
10.  Ben Hanley         Olympiacos                  1m06.961s  + 1.107s
11.  Paul Meijer        Atletico de Madrid          1m07.015s  + 1.161s
12.  Earl Bamber        PSV Eindhoven               1m07.019s  + 1.165s
13.  Andy Soucek        Flamengo                    1m07.102s  + 1.248s
14.  Adrian Valles      Sporting Clube de Portugal  1m07.104s  + 1.250s
15.  Tristan Gommendy   Olympique Lyonnais          1m07.272s  + 1.418s
16.  Marcos Martinez    Sevilla FC                  1m07.603s  + 1.749s
17.  Davide Rigon       RSC Anderlecht              1m07.784s  + 1.930s
18.  Franck Perera      Girondins de Bordeaux       1m08.722s  + 2.868s
19.  Ma Qing Hua        Team China