Esteban Gutierrez finishes on top

Esteban Gutierrez set the quickest laptime again in today’s final pre-season test in Barcelona. The young Mexican set a laptime of 1:29.154 in the morning session ahead of last week’s fastest man in Jerez, Davide Valsecchi. In the afternoon session, it was Frenchman Tom Dillmann at Rapax who finished top ahead of Stefano Coletti.

The final 2012 pre-season testing day opened in Circuit de Catalunya in sunny conditions. After a quiet first half hour which saw Nigel Melker leading the way, Fabrizio Crestani was the first man to dip under 1m29s. The proceedings were red flagged after Fabio Onidi ran wide at Turn 4 and stopped in the gravel bed. At the restart, Crestani was still in control of the timesheet ahead of Melker and Luiz Razia. A second red flag occurred after Simon Trummer stopped on track at Turn 10. When the track was live again, Dillmann went quickest leading from James Calado.

With one hour left on the clock, yesterday’s quickest man Esteban Gutiérrez headed the timesheets again with a 1:29.154, 0.1s faster than Valsecchi. In the dying minutes of the session, Johnny Cecotto caused a third red flag after he spun and stopped on the track. At the checkered flag, Gutiérrez remained top ahead of Valsecchi, Dillmann, Max Chilton, Giedo van der Garde, Calado, Crestani, Melker and Onidi.

After a one hour break, the drivers took to the track for their final runs. Dillmann was quick on pace and clocked a 1:29.705 laptime to put him on top of the timesheets early on. Trummer caused a red flag after he ran off the track on cold tires ending his day prematurely. At the restart, teams resumed with their programs which included long runs and pitstop practices. A second red flag halted the session after Julian Leal stopped on track. Another brief interruption occurred shortly after the restart when Felipe Nasr stopped on track as well.

In the final hour of the session, Dillmann was still leading the way, 0.6s ahead of Crestani. Stefano Coletti closed the gap with the Frenchman when he also dipped under 1m30s. At the checkered flag, both men led ahead of Crestani, Nasr, Jon Lancaster, Marcus Ericsson, Valsecchi, Onidi, Jolyon Palmer and Ricardo Teixeira.

The thirteen GP2 are now headed to Malaysia where the season opener will take place in two weeks.

Morning results

Pos Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus GP 1:29.154 25
2. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1:29.318 26
3. Tom Dillmann Rapax 1:29.455 25
4. Max Chilton Carlin 1:29.456 25
5. Giedo van der Garde Caterham Racing 1:29.490 15
6. James Calado Lotus GP 1:29.599 19
7. Fabrizio Crestani Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:29.581 27
8. Nigel Melker Ocean Racing Technology 1:29.632 36
9. Fabio Onidi Scuderia Coloni 1:29.679 23
10. Stéphane Richelmi Trident Racing 1:29.694 28
11. Luiz Razia Arden International 1:29.748 26
12. Jolyon Palmer iSport International 1:29.849 22
13. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:29.977 20
14. Stefano Coletti Scuderia Coloni 1:30.031 29
15. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1:30.047 18
16. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:30.055 20
17. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1:30.075 38
18. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1:30.211 35
19. Josef Kral Barwa Addax Team 1:30.250 30
20. Johnny Cecotto Barwa Addax Team 1:30.287 28
21. Simon Trummer Arden International 1:30.477 23
22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham Racing 1:30.680 24
23. Jon Lancaster Ocean Racing Technology 1:30.724 29
24. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1:31.029 25
25. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1:31.766 24
26. Giancarlo Serenelli Venezuela GP Lazarus 1 :32.872 35


Afternoon results

Pos Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Tom Dillmann Rapax 1:29.705 33
2. Stefano Coletti Scuderia Coloni 1:29.918 24
3. Fabrizio Crestani Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:30.385 13
4. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1:30.740 36
5. Jon Lancaster Ocean Racing Technology 1:30.890 26
6. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:31.175 31
7. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1:31.197 37
8. Fabio Onidi Scuderia Coloni 1:31.324 25
9. Jolyon Palmer iSport International 1:31.352 36
10. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1:31.406 35
11. Luiz Razia Arden International 1:31.611 56
12. Nigel Melker Ocean Racing Technology 1:32.295 28
13. Stéphane Richelmi Trident Racing 1:32.339 31
14. Giedo van der Garde Caterham Racing 1:32.364 51
15. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1:32.923 41
16. Max Chilton Carlin 1:33.459 52
17. Giancarlo Serenelli Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:33.529 22
18. James Calado Lotus GP 1:33.579 52
19. Esteban Gutiérrez Lotus GP 1:33.847 52
20. Johnny Cecotto Barwa Addax Team 1:34.086 52
21. Josef Kral Barwa Addax Team 1:34.088 40
22. Nathanaël Berthon Racing Engineering 1:34.495 39
23. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1:34.521 34
24. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham Racing 1:34.750 46
25. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1:35.312 15
26. Simon Trummer Arden International 1