Sam Bird set the fastest time of two practice sessions held at Imola this morning ahead of the final round of the 2011 GP2 Asia Series.
Giedo van der Garde was fastest in the first of the two thirty minute sessions. The early pace was set by points leader Jules Bianchi for ART, but Ocean rookie Andrea Caldarelli went quickest. Addax driver van der Garde first took P2 from Bianchi before stealing top spot from Caldarelli. Carlin driver Mihhail Aleshin moved up to second at the end of the session, with Fabio Leimer third for Rapax.
Two incidents interrupted the first session, with Marcus Ericsson's iSport car stopping at Turn 5 during the first half of the session, while Romain Grosjean (DAMS) stopped at Turn 6 later on. Both would miss the second session, along with the returning Luca Filippi who had mechanical problems with his Coloni machine.
Bird, who had propped up the standings in the first session, was more on the pace in the second, moving into P1 ten minutes into the session. He improved his time to stay on top at the end of the session, with van der Garde second and Leimer third once again.
First session times:
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Gap | Laps | |
| 1. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:29.095 | 11 | |
| 2. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:29.379 | +0.284 | 13 |
| 3. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:29.443 | +0.348 | 13 |
| 4. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:29.486 | +0.391 | 14 |
| 5. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:29.487 | +0.392 | 12 |
| 6. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:29.600 | +0.505 | 11 |
| 7. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:29.604 | +0.645 | 11 |
| 8. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:29.740 | +0.689 | 9 |
| 9. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:29.784 | +0.806 | 13 |
| 10. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:29.901 | +0.859 | 13 |
| 11. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:29.954 | +0.893 | 11 |
| 12. | Luca Filippi | Scuderia Coloni | 1:19.988 | +0.893 | 12 |
| 13. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:30.010 | +0.915 | 15 |
| 14. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:30.106 | +1.011 | 13 |
| 15. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:30.191 | +1.096 | 7 |
| 16. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:30.216 | +1.121 | 11 |
| 17. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:30.225 | +1.130 | 10 |
| 18. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:30.311 | +1.216 | 15 |
| 19. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:30.479 | +1.384 | 13 |
| 20. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:30.507 | +1.412 | 12 |
| 21. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:30.880 | +1.785 | 11 |
| 22. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:32.373 | +3.278 | 11 |
| 23. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:32.475 | +3.380 | 11 |
| 24. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:32.787 | +3.692 | 4 |
| 25. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:32.859 | +3.764 | 8 |
| 26. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:33.041 | +3.946 | 12 |
Second session times:
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Gap | Laps | |
| 1. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:28.312 | 11 | |
| 2. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:28.515 | +0.203 | 12 |
| 3. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:28.566 | +0.254 | 12 |
| 4. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:28.584 | +0.272 | 11 |
| 5. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:28.585 | +0.273 | 12 |
| 6. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:28.646 | +0.334 | 11 |
| 7. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:28.694 | +0.382 | 11 |
| 8. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:28.762 | +0.450 | 14 |
| 9. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:28.894 | +0.582 | 11 |
| 10. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:28.901 | +0.589 | 13 |
| 11. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:28.931 | +0.619 | 13 |
| 12. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:28.961 | +0.649 | 13 |
| 13. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:29.084 | +0.772 | 12 |
| 14. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:29.292 | +0.980 | 14 |
| 15. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:29.293 | +0.981 | 12 |
| 16. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:29.341 | +1.029 | 9 |
| 17. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:29.410 | +1.098 | 11 |
| 18. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:29.437 | +1.125 | 18 |
| 19. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:29.672 | +1.360 | 10 |
| 20. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:29.762 | +1.450 | 18 |
| 21. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:29.885 | +1.573 | 15 |
| 22. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:29.927 | +1.615 | 14 |
| 23. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:30.422 | +2.110 | 14 |
