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Josef Kral fastest during Practice for GP2 in Spain

Czech driver Kral impresses upon his Series return

By

11 May 2012 - 12:53

After staying on in Bahrain for an extra weekend after for the Formula 1 fraternity vacated the track, GP2 has now returned to the Circuit de Catalunya for the first European event of the season in support of the Spanish Grand Prix. Czech driver Josef Kral finished fastest in practice, ahead of British driver James Calado.

In traditional GP2 fashion, a queue of cars formed at the exit of the pit-lane eagerly anticipating the start of the practice session. And it was the Caterham of Rodolfo Gonzalez who led that queue out, the Venezuelan driver having tested for Caterham’s F1 team in Mugello the week before.

Ocean Racing Technology have another new face in their driver line-up this weekend, with current Formula 2 and Auto GP driver Victor Guerin at the wheel. The Brazilian driver suffered a slow start to the session, as he slowly made his way back to the pits early on with some issue plaguing his progress.

Rodolfo Gonzalez set the initial timed lap of the session, with a 01:41.932, however that time was quickly beaten by Tom Dillmann who set a 01:32.017. The French GP3 graduate won last time out in Bahrain, in a nail-biting race as he fended off Luiz Razia.

As session wore on, the times began to tumble as Felipe Nasr and Giedo van der Garde went fastest with respective quick laps. However, it was the Barwa Addax car of Josef Kral who set the overall fastest lap of the session with a 01:31.109. The Czech driver is making his return to the Series this weekend, after racing at the season opening race weekend in Malaysia before Dani Clos replaced him for Bahrain. With Clos now engrossed with his HRT reserve driver duties, this gives Kral an excellent opportunity to excel for his team.

Championship leader Davide Valsecchi came home 6th fastest, after completing 11 laps throughout the session. The Italian driver will be eager to extend his lead atop the Drivers’ Championship this weekend, after a dominating start to the season.

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Pos	Driver	Team	Laptime	Laps
1.	Josef Kral	Barwa Addax Team	1:31.109	7
2.	James Calado	Lotus GP	1:31.168	7
3.	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	1:31.238	7
4.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	1:31.246	6
5.	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	1:31.358	7
6.	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	1:31.396	11
7.	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:31.400	12
8.	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	1:31.476	6
9.	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	1:31.832	7
10.	Luiz Razia	Arden International	1:31.717	6
11.	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	1:31.799	6
12.	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	1:31.832	7
13.	Johnny Cecotto	Barwa Addax Team	1:31.870	5
14.	Max Chilton	Carlin	1:31.895	9
15.	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Caterham Racing	1:31.913	9
16.	Simon Trummer	Arden International	1:31.997	8
17.	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	1:32.046	7
18.	Esteban Gutierrez	Lotus GP	1:32.051	8
19	Julian Leal	Trident Racing	1:32.058	6
20.	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	1:32.060	9
21.	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	1:32.150	6
22.	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	1:32.322	6
23.	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	1:32.526	9
24.	Victor GUerin	Ocean Racing Technology	1:33.494	10
25.	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	1:33.605	15
26.	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:34.141	12