The first 2011 post-season testing opened today at Circuito de Jerez under clear blue skies, warm temperatures and in slightly windy conditions. Today’s entry list comprised of a total of twenty-seven drivers who ran around the Spanish track on Pirelli P Zero hard compounds for this first day. Among them, seven GP3 Series graduates including the 2011 top 4 drivers: reigning Champion Valtteri Bottas at Lotus ART, runner-up James Calado at Ocean Racing Technology, third-placed driver Nigel Melker at Arden International and fourth place finisher Nico Muller at Dams. Also joining from GP3 was race winner Rio Haryanto at Dams, Simon Trummer at Arden International and Antonio Felix Da Costa at Caterham Team AirAsia.
As soon as the pitlane opened, most drivers dove onto the track for their installation laps. It was Fabio Onidi at Scuderia Coloni who set the early pace in 1:29.040. Finnish ace Bottas proved he could adapt quickly to the GP2/11 by going top, five tenths faster than the Italian, while Fabio Leimer at Racing Engineering slipped in between the pair. The dying minutes of the first hour saw Josef Kral at Trident Racing topping the timesheets, but Onidi claimed back the top spot, with Max Chilton and Sam Bird completing the provisional top 3. With thirty minutes left in the session, Fabio Leimer at Racing Engineering went quickest, 0.1s from Filippi. The session was then briefly red flagged after Cecotto went wide at Turn 8 and stopped in the gravel bed. When it resumed, Leimer’s best laptime remained unbeaten. Bird, Cecotto, Onidi, Yelmer Buurman, Jolyon Palmer, Dani Clos, Josef Kral and Felix Da Costa completed the top ten.
Filippi was replaced by Kevin Ceccon in the afternoon session. It opened in rising temperatures and with Muller the first back on track. The Dams driver was soon followed by the remainder of the field. But it was Bottas who went quickest thirty minutes into the session and stayed on top of the timing sheets until the last half-hour of the trouble-free afternoon. Carlin’s Alvaro Parente and Max Chilton were in the Finn’s tow. With thirty minutes left on the clock, Leimer found extra pace again and claimed the top spot. In the closing stages, Buurman at Caterham Team AirAsia moved up to P2 a shy tenth from the Swiss while Clos edged Bottas out of P3. Kral, Parente, Chilton, Bird, Palmer and Melker rounded out the top ten.
The testing will resume tomorrow at 9am local time.
Morning session
Pos
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:27.282
29
2.
Luca Filippi
Scuderia Coloni
1:27.291
29
3.
Sam Bird
Rapax
1:27.555
33
4.
Johnny Cecotto
Barwa Addax Team
1:27.566
25
5.
Fabio Onidi
Scuderia Coloni
1:27.587
32
6.
Yelmer Buurman
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:27.786
32
7.
Jolyon Palmer
iSport International
1:27.801
31
8.
Dani Clos
Barwa Addax Team
1:27.894
24
9.
Josef Kral
Trident Racing
1:27.909
20
10.
Antonio Felix Da Costa
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:28.090
32
11.
Adam Carroll
Super Nova Racing
1:28.212
20
12.
Alvaro Parente
Carlin
1:28.289
22
13.
Max Chilton
Carlin
1:28.317
21
14.
James Calado
Ocean Racing Technology
1:28.369
26
15.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Racing Engineering
1:28.443
25
16.
Valtteri Bottas
Lotus ART
1:28.459
28
17.
Simon Trummer
Arden International
1:28.597
33
18.
Stéphane Richelmi
Ocean Racing Technology
1:28.7-3
27
19.
Julian Leal
Trident Racing
1:28.709
24
20.
Nigel Melker
Arden International
1:28.779
34
21.
Javier Villa
Super Nova Racing
1:28.907
14
22.
Daniele Zampieri
Rapax
1:29.091
29
23.
Rio Haryanto
Dams
1:29.097
26
24.
Nathaniel Berthon
Lotus ART
1:29.241
30
25.
Nico Muller
Dams
1:29.288
25
26.
Carlos Iaconelli
iSport International
1:30.029
23
Afternoon Session
Pos
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:27.777
20
2.
Yelmer Buurman
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:27.874
28
3.
Dani Clos
Barwa Addax Team
1:28.049
17
4.
Valtteri Bottas
Lotus ART
1:28.113
31
5.
Josef Kral
Trident Racing
1:28.194
26
6.
Alvaro Parente
Carlin
1:28.254
18
7.
Max Chilton
Carlin
1:28.259
21
8.
Sam Bird
Rapax
1:28.373
31
9.
Jolyon Palmer
iSport International
1:28.490
32
10.
Nigel Melker
Arden International
1:28.574
26
11.
Nathaniel Berthon
Lotus ART
1:28.576
29
12.
Javier Villa
Super Nova Racing
1:28.606
23
13.
Stéphane Richelmi
Ocean Racing Technology
1:28.613
25
14.
Fabio Onidi
Scuderia Coloni
1:28.648
18
15.
Johnny Cecotto
Barwa Addax Team
1:28.727
27
16.
James Calado
Ocean Racing Technology
1:28.731
28
17.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Racing Engineering
1:28.868
26
18.
Antonio Felix Da Costa
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:28.875
32
19.
Daniele Zampieri
Rapax
1:28.924
32
20.
Kevin Ceccon
Scuderia Coloni
1:28.996
30
21.
Rio Haryanto
Dams
1:29.160
28
22.
Simon Trummer
Arden International
1:29.202
26
23.
Nico Muller
Dams
1:29.678
28
24.
Julian Leal
Trident Racing
1:29.823
8
25.
Carlos Iaconelli
iSport International
1:30.253
24
26.
Adam Carroll
Super Nova Racing
1:31.734
8
Day 2 drivers entry list
Rapax 01- Daniel Zampieri (ITA) 02- Stéphane Richelmi (MON)
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