Valencia, Free Practice 1: Filippi leads the pack

Luca Filippi

There couldn't have been a better way for Luca Filippi to return to Auto GP. The Italian driver, who missed the Oschersleben round as he had a clashing commitment in GP2, immediately took the lead in Valencia, closing the first Free Practice session with a 1'24"170 that allowed him to bring the SuperNova car at the top of the timesheet. Behind him was Fabrizio Crestani: the Lazarus driver posted the second quickest time but was still 4 tenths adrift from Filippi, just ahead of Adrian Campos Jr.: the Spaniard had high expectations for this weekend and immediately managed to make the most of the special feeling he has with his home track with a 1'24"610.

Sergei Afanasiev was the best placed DAMS driver, following the top three with a 1'24"861 that was enough to keep behind Adrien Tambay and Adam Carroll: the Campos Racing duo were split by just a 0"018 gap and preceded championship leader Kevin Ceccon, who posted a 1'24"983 that allowed him to keep Rio Haryanto and Giovanni Venturini behind. Some set-up changes that didn't word were the reason behind the 10th position for Fabio Onidi, with 1'25"429.

Behind him were Daniel de Jong, Pasquale di Sabatino, Francesco Dracone and Giuseppe Cipriani. Just five laps completed for Samuele Buttarelli who went off track at Turn 1, luckily without hitting the barriers. The team is now inspecting the car to find if there was a technical reason for the accident.

Valencia, 2 September, Free Practice 1

1 Luca FILIPPI Supernova Racing 1:24.170
2 Fabrizio CRESTANI Lazarus 1:24.610
3 Adrian CAMPOS JR Campos Racing 1:24.656
4 Sergei AFANASIEV Dams 1:24.861
5 Adrien TAMBAY Campos Racing 1:24.911
6 Adam CARROLL Campos Racing 1:24.929
7 Kevin CECCON Ombra Racing 1:24.983
8 Rio HARYANTO Dams 1:25.201
9 Giovanni VENTURINI Griffitz Durango 1:25.222
10 Fabio ONIDI Lazarus 1:25.429
11 Daniel DEJONG MP Motorsport 1:25.791
12 Pasquale DI SABATINO TP Formula 1:26.728
13 Francesco DRACONE Ombra Racing 1:26.797
14 Giuseppe CIPRIANI Griffitz Durango 1:26.908
15 Samuele BUTTARELLI TP Formula 1:27.641