Italian Kevin Giovesi, recently confirmed by the Caterham F1 Team to have joined their young driver programme, was fastest in practice ahead of this weekend’s Auto GP World Series rounds at the Nurburgring in Germany.
The session, held on a damp track with intermittent rain, saw Virtuosi UK driver Tamas Pal Kiss set the initial pace after setting a lap time of 1:32.951s. With eleven minutes to go, championship leader Kimiya Sato took over at the top, but FMS Racing driver Giovesi stole top spot in the final moments of the session.
If results go his way, Sato could clinch the Auto GP championship this weekend, and the Euronova Racing driver began his weekend confidently.
German Markus Pommer and Italian Michela Cerruti were fourth and fifth fastest for Super Nova International, ahead of Japanese driver Yoshitaka Kuroda in the second Euronova Racing entry in sixth. Gentleman drivers Giuseppe Cipriani and Michele La Rosa, of Ibiza Racing Team and MLR71 by Euronova respectively were seventh and eighth.
Andrea Roda, fresh off his maiden series victory last time out in Austria, was a disappointing ninth for Virtuosi UK, ahead of only Francesco Dracone in the third Super Nova International entry, and Salvatore de Plano, who was well off the pace for FMS in eleventh and last place.
In a noticeable absence, the Zele Racing outfit are not competing this weekend. They had seen Swiss driver Christof von Grunigen competing for them in Austria.
Nurburgring Practice Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Kevin Giovesi | ITA | FMS Racing | 1:32.486 |
2 | Kimiya Sato | JAP | Euronova Racing | 1:32.636 |
3 | Tamas Pal Kiss | HUN | Virtuosi UK | 1:32.951 |
4 | Markus Pommer | GER | Super Nova International | 1:33.097 |
5 | Michela Cerruti | ITA | Super Nova International | 1:34.271 |
6 | Yoshitaka Kuroda | JAP | Euronova Racing | 1:34.488 |
7 | Giuseppe Cipriani | ITA | Ibiza Racing Team | 1:34.712 |
8 | Michele La Rosa | ITA | MLR71 by Euronova | 1:35.089 |
9 | Andrea Roda | ITA | Virtuosi UK | 1:35.400 |
10 | Francesco Dracone | ITA | Super Nova International | 1:35.721 |
11 | Salvatore de Plano | ITA | FMS Racing | 1:44.517 |