Michael Herck tops Day 3

Scuderia Coloni driver quickest in Abu Dhabi in GP2 Asia Series pre-season tests

By Franck Drui

6 February 2011 - 15:56
Michael Herck tops Day 3

A second two-day testing session began this Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit but on a shortened track configuration of 4.730 kms that will also be the configuration for the fourth GP2 Asia Series season’s opening round next Thursday. And with the opening round just around the corner, today’s focus for most of the field was on race simulations and finding the right set up for this new layout.

Lotus ART’s Jules Bianchi set the early pace this morning, and by the hour mark Josef Kral at Arden went top in a 1:37.804 ahead of last session’s quickest man Giedo van der Garde at Addax. The Czech dominated the rest of the field for most of the session which was briefly interrupted by three red flags - courtesy of Julian Leal, Mikhail Aleshin and Oliver Turvey. But with less than an hour left on the clock, Carlin’s Max Chilton briefly moved to P1 until Bianchi clocked in a best laptime of 1:37.365. He then improved his time by two tenths with Max Chilton at Carlin and Kral in tow. Michael Herck at Scuderia Coloni slipped into P2, a shy tenth away from the Frenchman, but in the dying minutes of the session iSport’s Marcus Ericsson went under the 1m37s barrier in a 1:36.912 while Dani Clos at Racing Engineering moved to P2. Things seemed to be over for the morning, but Kral put his head down one last time and clocked in a best laptime of 1:36.609, three tenths clear of Ericsson.

When the afternoon session opened, it was Davide Valsecchi who was the first one to go under the 1m37s barrier at the wheel of his Team AirAsia car, but soon after, Kral bettered the Italian’s laptime by one tenth to top the timing sheet again. On the two-hour mark Bianchi proved once more that he is in top form by going quickest in a 1:36.592 while his rookie teammate Esteban Gutierrez moved up to P3, just three tenths behind. The order at the top remained the same for most of the session until Coloni’s Herck improved his personal best laptime and moved up to P2 ahead of Gutierrez and Kral. The afternoon session was red flagged three times, the last interruption happening with just fifteen minutes left on the clock. In the dying moments, Valsecchi improved once more and went top with a laptime of a 1:36.477, but was ultimately edged out from the top spot by Herck – the Romanian just one hundredth of a second quicker.

This two-day test session will conclude tomorrow on the same track configuration.

Morning Session

Pos.DriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Josef Kral Arden International 1:36.609 26
2. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:36.912 21
3. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:37.000 32
4. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:37.114 23
5. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:37.240 25
6. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:37.389 29
7. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:37.484 22
8. Max Chilton Carlin 1:37.495 18
9. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:37.503 30
10. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:37.592 21
11. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:37.715 21
12. Sam Bird iSport International 1:37.725 17
13. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:37.809 27
14. Julian Leal Rapax 1:37.814 24
15. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.822 36
16. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:37.846 21
17. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:37.876 32
18. Oliver Turvey Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.961 40
19. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:38.077 20
20. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:38.095 24
21. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1:38.098 24
22. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:38.226 11
23. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:38.421 24
24. James Jakes Scuderia Coloni 1:38.622 14
25. Pål Varhaug Dams 1:39.438 30
26. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova Racing 1:40.006 6

Afternoon Session

Pos.DriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:36.467 27
2. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:36.477 27
3. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:36.477 22
4. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:36.592 28
5. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:36.655 24
6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:36.826 19
7. Josef Kral Arden International 1:36.834 28
8. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:36.907 35
9. Max Chilton Carlin 1:36.908 16
10. James Jakes Scuderia Coloni 1:37.022 22
11. Sam Bird iSport International 1:37.030 32
12. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:37.076 36
13. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:37.147 27
14. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.155 21
15. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova Racing 1:37.226 27
16. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:37.231 28
17. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:37.304 32
18. Oliver Turvey Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.305 16
19. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:37. 331 26
20. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1:37.419 24
21. Pål Varhaug Dams 1:37.734 36
22. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:37.912 9
23. Julian Leal Rapax 1:38.059 23
24. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:38.523 24
25. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:39.176 31
26. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:39.495 36

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