Tests, Day 1: Filippi sets the pace in Barcelona

Scuderia Coloni veteran quickest in Day 1 of post season test

By Franck Drui

30 October 2012 - 19:09
Tests, Day 1: Filippi sets the (...)

The thirteen GP2 Series teams are back on track at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona this week for a two-day post-season test session. Many new faces joined the field as some familiar names switched to different teams.

The morning session opened in cloudy and cold conditions. The first hour was rather quiet and mainly used for installation laps as newcomers got to grips with their new machines and teams waited for the temperatures to rise. It was rookie Kevin Giovesi at Venezuela GP Lazarus who first set a laptime in the opening thirty minutes of the session, but he was soon bettered by Daniel De Jong at Scuderia Coloni.

As drivers started on their first runs, Stéphane Richelmi at Lotus GP went top, but it was only temporary. Luca Filippi set the quickest laptime, 0.03s faster than the Monegasque driver, before spinning and stopping his Scuderia Coloni car at Turn 5. The session was shortly red flagged in order to retrieve the Italian’s car.

Halfway through the session, Marcus Ericsson at Trident Racing moved up to P2 and in the final hour, Filippi went under the 1m30s barrier, three tenths quicker than the Swede. In the closing stages, De Jong found some extra pace to move up to P2 ahead of Nigel Melker (DAMS), Ericsson, Richelmi, Rio Haryanto (Carlin), Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Addax), Stefano Coletti (Rapax), Mitch Evans (Arden) and Jake Rosenzweig (Addax).

The afternoon session opened yet again under grey skies and cool temperatures. Both Rapax cars and Felipe Nasr (Carlin) were the first ones to feed onto the track. The Brazilian set the early pace ahead of Coletti, but it was Daniel Juncadella who took control of the timesheets after thirty minutes ahead of teammate Coletti and Giovesi. The standings remained unchanged until De Jong moved up to P1, a mere 0.004s ahead of Juncadella. The Dutch improved on his best time, further increasing the gap to his closest rivals. Ericsson moved up to P2 just before Rene Binder spun and stopped at Turn 5 bringing out a quick red flag.

In the closing stages, rookie Arthur Pic lost control of his DAMS car and went off at Turn 12 interrupting the session again and it was restarted with five minutes left on the clock. At the chequered flag, De Jong remained top ahead of Ericsson, Juncadella, Coletti, Alexander Rossi (Caterham), Richelmi, Quaife-Hobbs, Evans, Rosenzweig and Giovesi.

Tomorrow’s session will start at 9am local time.

Morning times:

Pos.DriverTeamTimeLaps
1. Luca Filippi Scuderia Coloni 1:29.775 17
2. Daniel De Jong Scuderia Coloni 1:30.115 23
3. Nigel Melker DAMS 1:30.315 24
4. Marcus Ericsson Trident Racing 1:30.356 26
5. Stéphane Richelmi Lotus GP 1:30.368 28
6. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1:30.479 28
7. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Barwa Addax Team 1:30.494 26
8. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1:30.516 19
9. Mitch Evans Arden international 1:30.566 22
10. Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1:30.625 23
11. Simon Trummer Arden International 1:30.692 20
12. Andre Negrao Racing Engineering 1:30.710 25
13. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1:30.710 26
14. Alexander Rossi Caterham Racing 1:30.805 23
15. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:31.008 32
16. Daniel Juncadella Rapax 1:31.183 29
17. Pal Varhaug iSport International 1:31.326 29
18. Kevin Giovesi Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:31.355 26
19. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1:31.618 22
20. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:31.681 24
21. Lucas Foresti Caterham Racing 1:31.840 22
22. Arthur Pic DAMS 1:31.842 21
23. Facundo Regalia iSport International 1:31.927 25
24. Gianmarco Raimondo Racing Engineering 1:32.524 31
25. Riccardo Agostini Scuderia Coloni 1:32.524 14
26. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology 1:33.082
27. Ramon Pineiro Ocean Racing Technology -:—.---

Afternoon times:

Pos.DriverTeamTimeLaps
1. Daniel De Jong Scuderia Coloni 1:30.408 21
2. Marcus Ericsson Trident Racing 1:30.567 28
3. Daniel Juncadella Rapax 1:30.740 41
4. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1:30.747 23
5. Alexander Rossi Caterham Racing 1:30.865 37
6. Stéphane Richelmi Lotus GP 1:30.886 27
7. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Barwa Addax Team 1:30.941 36
8. Mitch Evans Arden International 1:30.973 42
9. Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1:31.043 36
10. Kevin Giovesi Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:31.067 32
11. Nigel Melker DAMS 1:31.101 27
12. Simon Trummer Arden International 1:31.243 40
13. Lucas Foresti Caterham Racing 1:31.371 33
14. Andre Negrao Racing Engineering 1:31.382 30
15. Pal Varhaug iSport International 1:31.394 31
16. Arthur Pic DAMS 1:31.407 20
17. Riccardo Agostini Scuderia Coloni 1:31.413 33
18. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:31.477 39
19. Gianmarco Raimondo Racing Engineering 1:31.579 30
20. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1:31.649 39
21. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1:31.708 36
22. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:31.771 29
23. Facundo Regalia iSport International 1:31.771 35
24. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1:33.897 22
25. Luca Filippi Scuderia Coloni -:—.---
26. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology -:—.---
27. Ramon Pineiro Ocean Racing Technology -:—.---

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