Leimer quickest at Yas Marina Circuit in post season tests

The second day of GP2 Series post-season testing at Yas Marina Circuit saw a few changes in the drivers’ entry list with some racers switching teams and new ones joining, namely Pal Varhaug at Dams, Daniel Macinelli at Rapax, Dani Clos at Ocean Racing and Luca Filippi at Coloni.

The morning session was dominated by Fabio Leimer at the wheel of the #14 car for 2010 Team Champions’ Rapax: the Swiss topped the timing sheet from the moment the pitlane opened until the chequered flag, leaving only scraps to his closest rivals. Charles Pic at Addax looked like the man who could come the closest to Leimer’s best laptime as he stayed P2 for most of the session, but with five minutes left on the clock, GP2 returnee Filippi picked up some pace and finished two tenths from Leimer. The session was briefly interrupted by three red flags, the second one due to Jake Rosenzweig damaging his Super Nova car on a curb and ending the American’s session prematurely.

In the afternoon, yesterday’s quickest man James Jakes – this time at the wheel of a Racing Engineering car, set the early pace, until Sam Bird at Dams bettered his laptime. On the one hour mark, Michael Herck at DPR reminded everyone that he had been the fastest man on track in yesterday’s morning session by going top again, but not for long: Leimer and Josef Kral at Addax bettered the Romanian’s laptime. It was then Stefano Coletti’s turn to place his Trident car at the top of the timesheet. The fight for today’s top honour continued relentlessly with GP3 Series Champion Esteban Gutierrez at ART claiming the top spot temporarily until Leimer went quickest again, improving his morning’s laptime by four tenths. He was then never dethroned despite Kral’s best efforts: the Addax man finished just one tenth behind the Swiss. In the dying seconds of the session, Clos improved, edging Bird out of the Top 3. Gutierrez finished best rookie of the day.

The post-season test will resume on Saturday.

Day 2 – morning session

1. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:47.867 (16 laps)
2. Luca Filippi Coloni 1:48.054 (32 laps)
3. Charles Pic Addax 1:48.141 (19 laps)
4. Josef Kral Addax 1:48.171 (19 laps)
5. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1:48.183 (28 laps)
6. Sam Bird DAMS 1:48.261 (22 laps)
7. Michael Herck DPR 1:48.570 (13 laps)
8. Joylon Palmer iSport 1:48.614 (8 laps)
9. Dani CloS Ocean 1:48.731 (16 laps)
10. Andrea Caldarelli Racing Engineering 1:48.766 (15 laps)
11. Nicolas Marroc Ocean 1:48.731 (14 laps)
12. Roberto Merhi iSport 1:49.025 (21 laps)
13. Julian Leal Trident 1:49.037 (19 laps)
14. Nathanel Berthon ART 1:49.098 (23 laps)
15. Stefano Coletti Trident 1:49.120 (20 laps)
16. James Jakes Racing Engineering 1:49.357 (12 laps)
17. Simon Trummer Arden 1:49.377 (32 laps)
18. Jake Rosenzweig Super 1:49.537 (14 laps)
19. Rodolfo Gonzalez Super 1:49.631 (11 laps)
20. Armaan Ebrahim Arden 1:49.946 (32 laps)
21. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1:49.949 (34 laps)
22. Kevin Ceccon Coloni 1:49,971 (6 laps)
23. Daniel Mancinelli Rapax 1:50.780 (19 laps)
24. Camilo Zurcher DPR 2m10.469 (1 lap)

Day 2 – Afternoon session

1. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:47.401 (16 laps)
2. Josef Kral Addax 1:47.517 (16 laps)
3. Dani Clos Ocean 1:47.827 (21 laps)
4. Sam Bird DAMS 1:47.887 (13 laps)
5. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1:47.913 (31 laps)
6. Andrea Caldarelli Racing Engineering 1:47.939 (16 laps)
7. Luca Filippi Coloni 1:47.944 (17 laps)
8. Charles Pic Addax 1:47.972 (18 laps)
9. Stefano Coletti Trident 1:48.016 (26 laps)
10. Kevin Ceccon Coloni 1:48.156 (13 laps)
11. James Jakes Racing Engineering 1:48.189 (24 laps)
12. Michael Herck DPR 1:48.294 (23 laps)
13. Roberto Merhi iSport 1:48.387 (21 laps)
14. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1:48.406 (22 laps)
15. Nathanael Berthon ART 1:48.759 (28 laps)
16. Nicolas Marroc Ocean 1:48.831 (15 laps)
17. Simon Trummer Arden 1:48.874 (25 laps)
18. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1:48.891 (27 laps)
19. Rodolfo Gonzalez Super Nova 1:49.008 (19 laps)
20. Julian Leal Trident 1:49.085 (19 laps)
21. Armaan Ebrahim Arden 1:49.262 (31 laps)
22. Daniel Mancinelli Rapax 1:50.102 (13 laps)