Fabrizio Crestani fastest in shortened practice at Silverstone

Fabrizio Crestani has finished a shortened practice session fastest, as torrential rain brought a premature end to the opening GP2 session of the British Grand Prix weekend. With heavy rain lashing down upon the Silverstone circuit, three red flag delays were caused as the drivers struggled to get to grips with the sodden track.

The session started in torrential conditions, which only worsened as the session wore on. Stephane Richelmi was the first man out on track, as he led out a queue of drivers eager to sample the treacherous conditions. It wasn’t long before the drivers began to spin, with Esteban Gutierrez doing so on only his out lap coming into the final corner. Julian Leal set the initial pace for Trident Racing, setting a 02:24.395. Daniel de Jong became the next driver to push too hard, as the Dutchman spun his Rapax car. Fabrizio Crestani then went fastest, before the first red flag delay was caused as Ricardo Teixeira spun at the final corner and beached it on the kerbs.

The delay only last several minutes, before the session resumed with Julian Leal leading the pack out back on track. Rodolfo Gonzalez was the next victim of the horrendous conditions, as the Caterham driver was seen beached in the gravel on the exit of turn 14. Esteban Gutierrez then shot to the top, with a 02:24.207 before Crestani returned to the top almost immediately with a 02:23.035.

Fabio Onidi then brought out the second red flag delay, as the Italian driver spun his Scuderia Coloni on the exit of turn 4. Once the session returned to green flag conditions, it was Victor Guerin and Julian Leal who returned to the track first. It was Guerin who brought out the third and final red flag delay of the session, as the Brazilian driver spun and stalled his car on the exit of the final turn. Once the red flag was brought out, it was decided that the session would not restart due to the increasingly treacherous conditions.

The GP2 paddock will be hoping for better conditions later this afternoon, as the 26 drivers return to the Silverstone circuit for their qualifying session for tomorrow afternoon’s feature race.

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