Warm-up: Zonta raises the stakes

The Brazilian lapped his FC Barcelona-backed, Gabord Competitcion-run Dallara-Nissan in 1m24.575s, a time that has only been bettered by Spaniard Rafael Sarandeses in testing on Friday. Double pole man Franck Montagny (Racing Engineering) virtually matched his fastest time from qualifying in the 15-minute session, over a tenth down on Zonta's best, but then spun into the gravel at the same hairpin where he crashed yesterday.

Bas Leinders (KTR) was third fastest, and the Belgian was closely matched by the equally consistent Ander Vilarino (Epsilon by Graff). Antonio Garcia was fifth fastest, ahead of reigning F3000 champion Justin Wilson.

Sarandeses, who starts race one from the front row, was only 10th fastest in his 7UP GD Racing machine. He starts the second event from last on the grid, alongside Zonta, after both were caught out by a rain storm in qualifying.

Narain Karthikeyan, on the front row for race two, was only 12th fastest in the warm-up, while Irishman Damien Faulkner recorded his best lap of the weekend so far to set the 17th fastest time.


Ricardo Zonta, Gabord Competicion, 1m24.575s
Franck Montagny, Racing Engineering, 1m24.657s
Bas Leinders, KTR, 1m24.864s
Ander Vilarino, Epsilon by Graff, 1m24.910s
Antonio Garcia, Adrian Campos Motorsport, 1m25.422s
Justin Wilson, Racing Engineering, 1m25.526s
Angel Burgueno, Repsol Meycom, 1m25.579s
Jean-Christophe Ravier, Epsilon by Graff, 1m25.711s
Andre Couto, Vergani Racing, 1m25.742s
Rafael Sarandeses, 7UP GD Racing, 1m25.905s