Leimer Back On Top As GP2 Testing Concludes

Fabio Leimer - Photo: Alastair Staley/LAT Photographic/GP2 Media Service

Fabio Leimer returned to the top of the timesheets on the final day of GP2 Series post-season testing at Barcelona.

Swiss driver Leimer had set the quickest time on both days of the previous test at Jerez with the Racing Engineering squad, and after an off-the-pace day yesterday he returned to the top in this morning's session. This came after it was announced yesterday that he would test for Sauber at Abu Dhabi next month.

He was 0.225 seconds quicker than Sam Bird, another man with two years' experience in the category. The Briton was turning out for Italian team Trident Racing. Esteban Gutierrez, who will join Leimer in testing for Sauber, was third for his team Lotus ART.

Kevin Magnussen, who was this morning confirmed for a switch to Formula Renault 3.5 with Carlin next year, was fourth fastest and quickest rookie. Scuderia Coloni duo Stefano Coletti and Kevin Ceccon completed the top six.

Coletti became the pacesetter in the afternoon, having only returned from an injury lay-off yesterday. The session was considerably slower than the morning though, with the Monegasque driver the best part of 1.3s adrift of Leimer's benchmark.

Alexander Rossi was second fastest for Caterham Team AirAsia, ahead of Racing Engineering's Nathanael Berthon. Ocean Racing Technology duo Brendon Hartley and Antonio Felix da Costa were fourth and sixth, sandwiching Addax rookie Jake Rosenzweig.

While testing may be over for 2011, the teams will be back on track for the 2011 GP2 Final at Yas Marina on 13 November in support of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Morning session

Afternoon Session