Davide Valsecchi continued his pacesetting start to his fifth GP2 Series campaign by remaining on top of the timesheets on day two of the pre-season test at Jerez.
The DAMS driver set a benchmark of 1m24.967s during the morning session, ending up more than four tenths clear of Lotus GP's Esteban Gutierrez at the lunch break. Max Chilton was a promising third fastest in the Marussia-liveried Carlin car ahead of Stefano Coletti for Coloni. iSport locked out fifth and sixth places, with Jolyon Palmer edging Marcus Ericsson by 0.015s.
Dani Clos took seventh for Rapax, ahead of Coloni's Fabio Onidi, James Calado of Lotus and Racing Engineering's Fabio Leimer. Giedo van der Garde was 11th fastest for Caterham, ahead of Stephane Richelmi of Trident, Valsecchi's teammate Felipe Nasr and Arden driver Simon Trummer.
Trummer's more experienced teammate Luiz Razia was just behind, ahead of Julian Leal, Tom Dillmann and Josef Kral. Rookie Vittorio Ghirelli put new team Lazarus in 19th place, with Rio Haryanto just ahead of the second Lazarus car of Fabrizio Crestani. Nathanael Berthon was 22nd ahead of the two Venezuelans Johnny Cecotto and Rodolfo Gonzalez, with Dutchmen Daniel De Jong and Nigel Melker propping up the timesheets – the latter having damaged his car in contact with the barrier and bringing a rather early end to his day.
The afternoon session saw the times somewhat slower, though Valsecchi again held P1 for much of the session. Van der Garde moved ahead with a 1m26.648s just before Leal brought out the red flags and with it a premature end to the day's running. Leal had posted the third fastest time, ahead of Clos, Razia and Kral. Crestani was seventh, with Trummer and the Monegasque duo of Coletti and Richelmi rounding out the top ten.
For the final day of the test tomorrow, Kevin Ceccon will be in action for Ocean, replacing Dillmann who will be with Rapax instead of De Jong.
Morning session
Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
1. | Davide Valsecchi | DAMS | 1:24.783 | 32 |
2. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus GP | 1:25.193 | 30 |
3. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:25.294 | 26 |
4. | Stefano Coletti | Scuderia Coloni | 1:25.358 | 29 |
5. | Jolyon Palmer | iSport International | 1:25.359 | 24 |
6. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:25.374 | 27 |
7. | Dani Clos | Rapax | 1:25.467 | 18 |
8. | Fabio Onidi | Scuderia Coloni | 1:25.505 | 27 |
9. | James Calado | Lotus GP | 1:25.569 | 25 |
10. | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1:25.845 | 29 |
11. | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham Racing | 1:25.893 | 20 |
12. | Stéphane Richelmi | Trident Racing | 1:25.903 | 39 |
13. | Felipe Nasr | DAMS | 1:26.006 | 33 |
14. | Simon Trummer | Arden International | 1:26.017 | 35 |
15. | Luiz Razia | Arden International | 1:26.049 | 38 |
16. | Julian Leal | Trident Racing | 1:26.128 | 27 |
17. | Tom Dillmann | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:26.177 | 29 |
18. | Josef Kral | Barwa Addax Team | 1:26.351 | 28 |
19. | Vittorio Ghirelli | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:26.477 | 23 |
20. | Rio Haryanto | Carlin | 1:26.545 | 30 |
21. | Fabrizio Crestani | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:26.551 | 16 |
22. | Nathanaël Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:26.648 | 23 |
23. | Johnny Cecotto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:26.665 | 18 |
24. | Rodolgo Gonzalez | Catheram Racing | 1:26.707 | 32 |
25. | Daniel de Jong | Rapax | 1:26.712 | 31 |
26. | Nigel Melker | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:41.035 | 2 |
Afternoon Session
Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
1. | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham Racing | 1:26.270 | 32 |
2. | Davide Valsecchi | DAMS | 1:26.648 | 28 |
3. | Julian Leal | Trident Racing | 1:26.656 | 21 |
4. | Dani Clos | Rapax | 1:26.838 | 18 |
5. | Luiz Razia | Arden International | 1:26.931 | 28 |
6. | Josef Kral | Barwa Addax Team | 1:27.002 | 28 |
7. | Fabrizio Crestani | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:27.097 | 23 |
8. | Simon Trummer | Arden International | 1:27.320 | 28 |
9. | Stefano Coletti | Scuderia Coloni | 1:27.349 | 27 |
10. | Stéphane Richelmi | Trident Racing | 1:27.451 | 21 |
11. | Felipe Nasr | DAMS | 1:27.496 | 33 |
12. | Johnny Cecotto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:27.537 | 10 |
13. | Fabio Onidi | Scuderia Coloni | 1:27.561 | 19 |
14. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Caterham Racing | 1:27.680 | 29 |
15. | Daniel De Jong | Rapax | 1:27.801 | 18 |
16. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:28.398 | 36 |
17. | Vittorio Ghirelli | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:28.639 | 24 |
18. | Tom Dillmann | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:28.656 | 3 |
19. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:28.999 | 35 |
20. | Jolyon Palmer | iSport International | 1:29.146 | 41 |
21. | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1:29.449 | 22 |
22. | Rio Haryanto | Carlin | 1:29.629 | 25 |
23. | James Calado | Lotus GP | 1:29.847 | 47 |
24. | Esteban Gutiérrez | Lotus GP | 1:29.866 | 35 |
25. | Nathanaël Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:30.547 | 26 |