Meritus racer quickest again in GP2 Asia Series pre-season tests

The Yas Marina Circuit hosted the last GP2 Asia pre-season test session yesterday. A few days before the  opening  of  the  third  GP2  Asia  Series  season,  Luca  Filippi  and  Malaysian  team  Meritus  put pressure  on  their  rivals. 

Already  quickest  man  on  track Friday,  the  Italian  set  the  pace  again Saturday in an impressive 1:51.415, two hundredth away from Roldan Rodriguez (Coloni).

The level of grip improved drastically from day 1 and laptimes dropped this morning compared to yesterday’s  afternoon  session  although  the  temperature  was  higher.  Davide  Valsecchi  at  iSport chose  to  do  a  race  simulation  in  order  to  test  the  car  at  the  same  time  as  next  week’s  race  will happen. And the Italian showed great pace, setting the quickest laptime in a 1:52.355, eight tenths clear from rookie Sam Bird (ART).

Luiz Razia at Barwa Addax completed the top three ahead of another impressive rookie, Joseph Kral at Super Nova. Filipi’s teammate Diego Nunes posted the fifth  fastest  latime  in  front  of  Trident’s  Johnny  Cecotto  while  three  other  rookies  –  Max  Chilton (Barwa Addax), Pablo Sanchez (Arden) and Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing) finished in the top ten with Michael Herck (DPR) finishing in ninth place.

Abu Dhabi – Test session Day 2 – Morning session

Driver Team Time Laps

1. Davide Valsecchi iSport international 1:52.355 29 2. Sam Bird ART Grand Prix 1:53.110 24 3. Luiz Razia Barwa Addax Team 1:53.357 24 4. Josef Kral Super Nova Racing 1:53.456 36 5. Diego Nunes Meritus 1:53.878 11 6. Johnny Cecotto Trident Racing 1:53.941 34 7. Max Chilton Barwa Addax Team 1:53.979 27 8. Pablo Sanchez Arden International 1:54.365 25 9. Michael Herck DPR 1:54.422 15 10. Fabio Leimer Ocean Racing Technology 1:54.434 16 11. Alexander Rossi Ocean Racing Technology 1:54.654 15 12. Rodolofo Gonzalez Arden International 1:54.664 26 13. Luca Filippi Meritus 1:54.821 11 14. Christian Vietoris DAMS 1:54.994 29 15. Edoardo Piscopo DAMS 1:55.243 10 16. Marcus Ericsson ART Grand Prix 1:55.284 6 17. Daniel Zampieri Piquet GP 1:55.585 4 18. Roldan Rodriguez Scuderia Coloni 1:55.668 14 19. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Piquet GP 1:55.740 5 20 James Jakes Super Nova Racing 1:55.961 17 21. William Bratt Scuderia Coloni 1:57.608 19 22. Plamen Kralev Trident Racing 1:59.410 27 23. Giacomo Ricci DPR -- --

In the afternoon, the session started again at 4pm local time and ended under the spotlights of the track.  In  the  closing  stages  of  the  session  and  as  the  drivers  all  pushed  for  best  time,  Filippi clocked his fastest laptime of the day, improving his personal best by one second and four tenths quicker than Friday evening. Already second quickest in Day 1, Rodriguez was edged out of the top  of  the  timing  sheet  by  Filippi  just  seconds  away  from  the  chequered  flag  while  Davide Valsecchi,  who  finished  his  programme  earlier  than  most  and  stayed  at  the  top  for  most  of  the session, rounded up the Top 3.

In fourth, Swiss Fabio Leimer at Ocean Racing Technology left a good impression and earned the title of best rookie of the day while Nunes also announced Meritus’ ambitions for this new season with a fifth quickest laptime. Rodolfo Gonzalez at Arden followed ahead of rookie Christian Vietoris (DAMS), Kral, Marcus Ericsson (ART) and Herck completed the top 10. This concludes the two-day pre-season test session.

The third season of the GP2 Asia Series will kick off next week at the Yas Marina Circuit on Friday, October 30th with Free Practice at 10:30am local time.

 Abu Dhabi – Test session Day 2 – Afternoon session

Driver Team Time Laps

1. Luca Filippi Meritus 1:51.415 28 2. Roldan Rodriguez Scuderia Coloni 1:51.435 26 3. Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1:51.508 15 4. Fabio Leimer Ocean Racing Technology 1:51.650 19 5. Diego Nunes Meritus 1:51.993 25 6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden International 1:52.083 28 7. Christian Vietoris DAMS 1:52.235 29 8. Josef Kral Super Nova Racing 1:52.294 11 9. Marcus Ericsson ART Grand Prix 1:52.297 18 10. Michael Herck DPR 1:52.420 25 11. Johnny Cecotto Trident Racing 1:52.422 33 12. Sam Bird ART Grand Prix 1:52.478 12 13. Luiz Razia Barwa Addax Team 1:52.498 20 14. James Jakes Super Nova Racing 1:52.567 33 15. Edoardo Piscopo DAMS 1:52.625 18 16. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Piquet GP 1:52.473 33 17. Daniel Zampieri Piquet GP 1:52.760 25 18. Alexander Rossi Ocean Racing Technology 1:52.877 32 19. Max Chilton Barwa Addax Team 1:52.998 24 20 William Bratt Scuderia Coloni 1:53.001 28 21. Pablo Sanchez Arden International 1:53.571 6 22. Plamen Kralev Trident Racing 1:56.874 30