Rookies take a stand in last pre-season testing in Barcelona GP2 Series

Pre-season testing came to an end yesterday in Barcelona with rookies firmly proving their strengths and potential, Christian Vietoris leading the field in the morning session and setting the best laptime of the day. A total of six rookies finished in the Top 10.

This afternoon although Davide Valsecchi was quickest on track, five newcomers climbed again in the Top 10 finishers. On  great  form  since  the  beginning  of  the  three-day  test  session,  rookie  Vietoris  at  Racing Engineering took top spot one hour after the pitlane opened and stayed put until lunch break. Oliver Turvey moved up to second fastest in the last half hour of the session edging out Dani Clos on the second  Racing  Engineering  car. 

Also  competitive  was  Charles  Pic  at  Arden,  finishing  fourth,  his strongest showing so far. Behind him was another Frenchman and newcomer, Jules Bianchi th place ahead of Pastor Maldonado, the two Super Nova cars   Josef Kral ahead of Marcus Ericsson, and Sergio Perez  at  Addax. 

The  session  was  red  flagged  twice,  first  following  the  collision  between  Ho-Pin Tung and Adrian Zaugg at Turn 5, and then after Bianchi hit the barriers at Turn 3 because of a technical gremlin. While Leimer topped the timesheet for most of the afternoon session, the last thirty minutes where once again extremely animated and saw drastic changes in the classification. It started with Davide Valsecchi  taking  the  lead  with  Maldonado  moving  up  to  second  place  three  hundredths  behind.

Fabio Leimer at Ocean confirmed his good form in third place ahead of rookies Sam Bird, Turvey and  Bianchi.  Giedo  van  der  Garde  finished  in  seventh  place  with  Max  Chilton,  Luiz  Razia  and   This marks the end of pre-season tests for GP2 Series. The 2010 season will kick off in Barcelona alongside Formula One on May 7, 8, 9.

Morning results Driver License  Team Time Laps

1. Christian Vietoris GER Racing Engineering 1:27.284 21 2. Oliver Turvey GBR iSport International 1:27.555 29 3. Dani Clos ESP Racing Engineering 1:27.614 14 4. Charles Pic FRA Arden International 1:27.786 25 5. Jules Bianchi FRA ART Grand Prix 1:27.916 9 6. BEL Dams 1:27.937 18 7. Pastor Maldonado VEN Rapax 1:27.985 14 8. Josef Kral CZE Super Nova Racing 1:27.985 36 9. Marcus Ericsson SWE Super Nova Racing 1:27.987 22 10. Sergio Perez MEX Barwa Addax Team 1:27.998 27 11. Fabio Leimer SUI Ocean Racing Technology 1;28.005 17 12. Davide Valsecchi ITA iSport International 1:28.086 26 13. Giedo van der Garde NED Barwa Addax Team 1;28.119 17 14. Alberto Valerio BRA Scuderia Coloni 1:28.141 25 15. Michael Herck ROU DPR 1:28.560 18 16. Luiz Razia BRA Rapax 1:28.689 19 17. Vladimir Arabadzhiev BUL Scuderia Coloni 1:28.767 25 18. Sam Bird GBR ART Grand Prix 1:28.783 12 19. Ho-Pin Tung CHN Dams 1:28.686 24 20 Rodolfo Gonzalez VEN Arden International 1:29.369 24 21. Max Chilton GBR Ocean Racing Technology 1:29.486 27 22. Adrian Zaugg RSA Trident Racing 1:29.791 8 23. Johnny Cecotto VEN Trident Racing 1:29.868 20

Afternoon results Driver License Team Time Laps 1. Davide Valsecchi ITA iSport International 1:28.682 32 2. Pastor Maldonado VEN Rapax 1:28.715 18 3. Fabio Leimer SUI Ocean Racing Technology 1:28.716 9 4. Sam Bird GBR ART Grand Prix 1:28.856 11 5. Oliver Turvey GBR iSport International 1:28.957 25 6. Jules Bianchi FRA ART Grand Prix 1:29.082 16 7. Giedo van der Garde NED Barwa Addax Team 1:29.088 11 8. Max Chilton GBR Ocean Racing Technology 1:29.212 29 9. Luiz Razia BRA Rapax 1:29.289 29 10. BEL Dams 1:29.502 31 11. Charles Pic FRA Arden International 1:29.535 35 12. Marcus Ericsson SWE Super nova Racing 1:29.620 47 13. Michael Herck ROU DPR 1:29.808 32 14. Johnny Cecotto VEN Trident Racing 1:29.870 27 15. Adrian Zaugg RSA Trident Racing 1:30.088 24 16. Josef Kral CZE Super Nova Racing 1:30.277 38 17. Ho-Pin Tung CHN Dams 1:30.409 34 18. Rodolfo Gonzalez VEN Arden International 1:30.531 36 19. Vladimir Arabadzhiev BUL Scuderia Coloni 1:30.743 19 20 Christian Vietoris GER Racing Engineering 1:30.834 25 21. Giacomo Ricci ITA DPR 1:30.864 5 22. Dani Clos ESP Racing Engineering 1:31.000 8 23. Alberto Valerio BRA Scuderia Coloni 1:31660 6 24. Sergio Perez MEX Barwa Addax Team 1:31.928 24