Jules Bianchi finishes pre-season testing on top

Lotus ART racer clocks in a best laptime of 1:35.940 in Abu Dhabi

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7 February 2011 - 15:08
Jules Bianchi finishes pre-season (…)

The final pre-season test day took place today at Yas Marina Circuit on the 4.730 kms layout. Very early in the morning session Lotus ART’s Esteban Gutierrez set the pace in a 1:36.684 ahead of Carlin’s Max Chilton, but his laptime was soon bettered by the GP3 Series reigning Champion’s teammate Jules Bianchi who clocked in a laptime of 1:36.300. As the clock ticked down, Bianchi went quicker, so much as to become the only man to go under the 1m36s barrier, eight hundredths of a second ahead of Davide Valsecchi at Team AirAsia while Sam Bird and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top four.

The afternoon session was a bit slower as teams mainly focused again on completing race simulations. Racing Engineering’s Dani Clos rapidly took control of the timesheet in a 1:36,619, with Johnny Cecotto at Super Nova in tow. With drivers upping their total of numbers of laps, the order remained unchanged for the first two hours, and the session was briefly red flagged twice. Entering into the final hour, Team AirAsia’s Luiz Razia edged Clos off the top. The Brazilian’s teammate Davide Valsecchi soon after moved up to P2 before snatching the top spot from Razia in a 1:36.211, and going even quicker the following lap with a 1:36.159. Marcus Ericsson moved up to P3 before another red flag occurred. A final interruption happened with 10 minutes left into the session when Valsecchi and Romain Grosjean collided. At the re-start, iSport’s Sam Bird slipped into P3 in the dying minutes of the day.

This concluded the two-day test session during which 13060 kms and 2761 laps were completed. The fourth season of the GP2 Asia Series will open this Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

Morning Session

Pos.DriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:35.940 34
2. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:36.025 37
3. Sam Bird iSport International 1:36.154 30
4. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:36.175 26
5. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:36.366 30
6. Josef Kral Arden International 1:36.403 32
7. Max Chilton Carlin 1:36.413 24
8. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:36.430 23
9. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:36.491 37
10. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean Racing Technology 1:36.609 31
11. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:36.613 26
12. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:36.739 27
13. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:36.751 44
14. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:36.771 26
15. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:36.832 25
16. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:36.835 19
17. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:36.914 28
18. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:36.983 28
19. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:37.009 38
20. Julian Leal Rapax 1:37.055 35
21. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1:37.082 14
22. Oliver Turvey Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.244 24
23. James Jakes Scuderia Coloni 1:37.326 32
24. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova Racing 1:37.415 20
25. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:37.521 22
26. Pål Varhaug Dams 1:37.540 32

Afternoon Session

Pos.DriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:36.159 21
2. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:36.172 31
3. Sam Bird iSport International 1:36.277 31
4. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:36.464 26
5. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:36.493 20
6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:36.527 26
7. Josef Kral Arden International 1:36.541 35
8. Max Chilton Carlin 1:36.568 37
9. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:36.575 24
10. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:36.619 38
11. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:36.670 22
12. Julian Leal Rapax 1:36.700 25
13. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:36.716 28
14. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova Racing 1:36.721 32
15. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean Racing Technology 1:36.727 35
16. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:36.845 24
17. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:36.918 16
18. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1:37.054 24
19. Oliver Turvey Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.201 29
20. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:37.219 20
21. Pål Varhaug Dams 1:37.311 35
22. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:37.554 30
23. James Jakes Scuderia Coloni 1:37.632 14
24. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:38.548 42
25. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:38.683 24
26. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:38.707 34

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