Test 1: Zonta lays down gauntlet

Zonta lapped his Gabord Competicion-run Dallara-Nissan in 1m24.771s, over seven-tenths clear of Epsilon by Graff's Jean-Christophe Ravier. A late flyer from Franck Montagny stole third fastest time, although Zonta's team-mate Tuka Rocha ground to a halt at the final corner in the last few minutes of the session, dashing any hopes of further improvements.

Montagny's Racing Engineering team-mate, reigning F3000 champion Justin Wilson, endured a tough session with major handling problems that restricted him to a distant 16th, almost 5secs off the pace.

Promising Spaniard Raphael Sarandeses was fourth fastest for GD Racing, ahead of Indian ace Narain Karthikeyan (RC Motorsport) and Andre Couto (Vergani Racing).

A second hour of testing begins at 14.15 local time (13.15 BST).


Ricardo Zonta, Gabord Competicion, 1m24.771s
Jean-Christophe Ravier, Epsilon by Graff, 1m25.554s
Franck Montagny, Racing Engineering, 1m25.696s
Rafael Sarandeses, GD Racing, 1m25.799s
Narain Karthikeyan, Tata RC Motorsport, 1m24.971s
Andre Couto, Vergani Racing, 1m26.319s
Peter Sundberg, Tata RC Motorsport, 1m26.512s
Polo Villaamil, Adrian Campos Motorsport, 1m26.647s
Ander Vilarino, Epsilon by Graff, 1m26.674s
Nicolas Filiberti, Zele Motorsport, 1m26.803s