Jolyon Palmer quickest in Free Practice
The first free practice session of the eighth GP2 Series season opened in hot temperatures as the twenty-six drivers took to the track. Johnny Cecotto Jr was the first one out of the pitlane at the wheel of his Barwa Addax machine, but it was Valsecchi at DAMS who set the early pace in 1:48.049 – 0.2s quicker than Esteban Gutierrez.
Palmer was the first man to dip under 1m48s, but his laptime was soon bettered by Fabio Leimer until James Calado went top. Ten minutes into the session, Luiz Razia went quickest – 0.1s ahead of the Brit. As the Arden man set his best laptime, Sector 13 was yellow flagged after Esteban Gutiérrez stopped at Turn 12 following an incident with Cecotto. As the Venezuelan tried to pass the Mexican, the two cars collided which ended Gutiérrez’ session prematurely. The incident is under investigation.
Just before mid-session, Valsecchi found some extra pace and topped the timesheets ahead of Razia and Calado. But with ten minutes left on the clock, Palmer put his head down and broke the 1m47s barrier, setting the best laptime of the session, a clear 0.4s ahead of Valsecchi. The DAMS driver gave it another try and although he too dipped under 1m47s he was not fast enough to edge the Brit out of P1. At the checkered flag, Max Chilton made his way up to P3 ahead of Giedo van der Garde, Fabio Onidi, Felipe Nasr, Razia, Calado, Stefano Coletti and Josef Kral.
With drivers allowed to use a free downforce setup and having a choice between Prime and Option tires, the qualifying session promises to be a classic GP2 event!
Sepang – Free Practice
Pos | Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps |
1. | Jolyon Palmer | iSport International | 1:46.514 | 10 |
2. | Davide Valsecchi | DAMS | 1:46.678 | 12 |
3. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:47.152 | 8 |
4. | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham Racing | 1:47.229 | 11 |
5. | Fabio Onidi | Scuderia Coloni | 1:47.318 | 11 |
6. | Felipe Nasr | DAMS | 1:47.360 | 12 |
7. | Luiz Razia | Arden International | 1:47.418 | 5 |
8. | James Calado | Lotus GP | 1:47.532 | 14 |
9. | Stefano Coletti | Scuderia Coloni | 1:47.533 | 10 |
10. | Josef Kral | Barwa Addax Team | 1:47.580 | 12 |
11. | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1:47.616 | 10 |
12. | Johnny Cecotto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:47.637 | 12 |
13. | Esteban Gutiérrez | Lotus GP | 1:47.639 | 4 |
14. | Nathanaël Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:47.644 | 11 |
15. | Jon Lancaster | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:47.681 | 6 |
16. | Fabrizio Crestani | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:47.699 | 9 |
17. | Stéphane Richelmi | Trident Racing | 1:47.862 | 12 |
18. | Simon Trummer | Arden International | 1:48.246 | 12 |
19 | Rio Haryanto | Carlin | 1:48.259 | 10 |
20. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:48.326 | 12 |
21. | Nigel Melker | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:48.437 | 14 |
22. | Tom Dillmann | Rapax | 1:48.447 | 12 |
23. | Julian Leal | Trident Racing | 1:48.746 | 13 |
24. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Caterham Racing | 1:48.764 | 11 |
25. | Ricardo Teixeira | Rapax | 1:50.549 | 14 |
26. | Giancarlo Serenelli | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:52.306 | 12 |