Calado storms to GP2 sprint race victory, Russian Time crowned Champions
James Calado has ended his GP2 season in tremendous style with sprint race victory around the Yas Marina Circuit, after only just holding off the advancing Spaniard of Dani Clos. The duo were joined on the podium by newly-crowned Champion Fabio Leimer, as rookie outfit Russian Time secured the Team’s Championship ahead of Carlin.
At the start James Calado produced a sensational getaway off of the line, storming from 3rd to 1st into Turn 1. Behind the Briton utter mayhem ensued, as Felipe Nasr collided with initial poleman Johnny Cecotto and tipped the Venezuelan into a spin. Luckily the remainder of the field managed to avoid the stricken car, as Rio Haryanto and Alexander Rossi made light contact in the process. This damaged the Indonesian ace’s front-wing, and gave the Caterham a puncture which saw him spiral into retirement at the second corner.
After the freneticism of the first two corners, the field managed to avoid further mayhem through Turns 5 and 6, as James Calado enjoyed a huge lead at the front ahead of Dani Clos and Champion Fabio Leimer. Despite starting from a positive 2nd on the grid, Felipe Nasr’s chances of a competitive result were dashed after the opening lap, as the Brazilian driver limped back to the pits for a new front-wing. Meanwhile Sam Bird was up to 5th position behind the ART Grand Prix of Daniel Abt, with the Briton still striving to secure Russian Time the Teams’ Championship from Carlin.
With the marshals clearing both Johnny Cecotto and Alexander Rossi’s stricken machines, the safety car was deployed for just one lap. This saw James Calado’s dominant lead reduced to nothing as the field bunched up behind the safety car, before the race was resumed on Lap 3. Despite the resumption of the race, marshals were still sweeping the run-off area at Turn 2, creating a perilous few seconds as the field sprinted through the first few corners with yellow flags still flying. Eventually the marshals returned to their posts behind the barriers, allowing the yellow flags to be withdrawn and the race to well and truly be resumed.
With the Teams’ Championship still wide open between both Carlin and Russian Time, Sam Bird’s result would be pivotal in deciding the eventual Champions with team-mate Tom Dillmann not competing due to minor injuries sustained during the feature race. With Felipe Nasr struggling at the back of the pack after his first lap altercation with Johnny Cecotto, Carin’s hopes of Championship success lied heavily on the shoulders of Jolyon Palmer. The Briton had unfortunately endured a far from competitive start, and had slipped from 7th to 11th during the restart.
Russian Time managed to clinch the Teams’ Championship.
Sam Bird, on the other hand, had managed to gain a position over Daniel Abt for 4th position at Turns 11 and 12. The Briton now had his sights firmly set on former Championship rival Fabio Leimer for 3rd, with the Championship pendulum currently swinging in favour of Russian Time. Meanwhile James Calado was continuing to dominate at the front of the pack, producing the fastest lap of the race leaving Dani Clos a distant 2nd. After already enduring a tough start to his sprint race, Felipe Nasr was then struck with a drive-thru penalty for causing the incident. This fully ended any hopes he had of mounting a resurgence.
On Lap 9 a second safety car period was caused when the Hilmer Motorsport of Jon Lancaster misjudged an overtaking maneuver on the DAMS of Stephane Richelmi at Turns 8 and 9. Instead of taking to the extensive run-off areas, the Briton elected to run alongside the Monegasque driver which resulted in a race ending collision and subsequent spin. Luckily for Stephane Richelmi he managed to remain circulating, after sustaining hardly any damage in the process. Once again James Calado’s lead was reduced to nothing, with Dani Clos still 2nd ahead of Fabio Leimer.
At the restart James Calado simply catapulted himself back into a commanding lead at the front, as Julian Leal and Jolyon Palmer began battling hard for 10th position. At Turn 14 the duo made light contact after running side-by-side, resulting in minor front-wing damage for the Colombian driver. At first Jolyon Palmer seemed to have escaped unscathed, however the Briton’s race and his team’s Championship hopes were brought to a sudden conclusion when a left-rear puncture materialized. Although the Briton managed to limp back to the pits, he later retired from proceedings.
This meant Sam Bird needed to only remain in 4th position to clinch the Teams’ Championship for Russian Time, with Daniel Abt still clinging on the rear of his car in hope of retaking the 4th position from the Briton. With only several laps remaining, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs became the latest retirement for Hilmer Motorsport after suffering from rear-suspension failure on his car.
During the final laps Dani Clos began to gradually reel in the ART Grand Prix of James Calado, but to no avail as the Briton crossed the line to secure his fourth race victory of the season to cement his 3rd position in the Drivers’ Championship. Meanwhile Sam Bird managed to cling on to 4th position to clinch Russian Time the Teams’ Championship, after a superlative debut season for the outfit who will venture into GP3 as well next season.
Once again the GP2 Series season managed to fully entertain and enthrall many throughout the year, with a staggering 11 different drivers taking race victories including the likes of Fabio Leimer, Sam Bird, Robin Frijns and Nathaniel Berthon. The GP2 season will return next year for what will surely be another extremely entertaining affair, as the next generation of Formula 1 drivers prove their worth.
Results - 22 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. James Calado ART 44m04.124s
2. Dani Clos MP +0.787s
3. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering +4.965s
4. Sam Bird Russian Time +9.440s
5. Daniel Abt ART +9.957s
6. Marcus Ericsson DAMS +11.981s
7. Simon Trummer Rapax +13.188s
8. Sergio Canamasas Caterham +16.432s
9. Stefano Coletti Rapax +18.117s
10. Julian Leal Racing Engineering +18.487s
11. Jake Rosenzweig Addax +24.753s
12. Rio Haryanto Addax +33.689s
13. Nathanael Berthon Trident +34.153s
14. Mitch Evans Arden +34.485s
15. Gianmarco Raimondo Trident +36.123s
16. Rene Binder Lazarus +36.884s
17. Daniel de Jong MP +37.471s
18. Felipe Nasr Carlin +40.271s
19. Vittorio Ghirelli Lazarus +41.869s
20. Stephane Richelmi DAMS +1m19.122s
21. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Hilmer +3 laps*
*Not running at finish
Retirements:
Jolyon Palmer Carlin 17 laps
Jon Lancaster Hilmer 9 laps
Johnny Cecotto Jr Arden 0 laps
Alexander Rossi Caterham 0 laps
Picture(s) Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
All change in GP2 ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix
Several driver changes have occurred within the GP2 paddock ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with former race winner Robin Frijns being replaced by British sensation Adrian Quaife-Hobbs at Hilmer Motorsport after the Dutchman allegedly ran out of money to continue competing in the category.
The GP2 Series will also welcome two returnees for this weekend’s proceedings, with 30-year-old Angolan Ricardo Teixeira replacing Kevin Ceccon at Trident Racing and former HRT reserve driver Dani Clos replacing Adrian Quaife-Hobbs at MP Motorsport. Ricardo Teixeira last competed in the category last season with Rapax, and failed to score a single point. He initially made his debut in the Series with Trident Racing in 2008, before a season competing in Formula 2. In 2011 Teixeira tested for Team Lotus (now known as Caterham) at both Valencia and Barcelona.
Dani Clos will return to the GP2 Series with MP Motorsport.
With Adrian Quaife-Hobbs moving to Hilmer Motorsport to replace Robin Frijns, Dutch newcomers MP Motorsport have called upon the services of former Formula 1 reserve driver and GP2 driver Dani Clos. The 24-year-old Spaniard created history last season during practice one at the Spanish Grand Prix, creating the first all-Spanish line-up in a Spanish Formula 1 team at Barcelona alongside Pedro de la Rosa. Clos continued to enjoy six outings with HRT last season, before the team failed to find a new owner for 2013. Dani Clos last competed in the GP2 Series last season with Barwa Addax for four races, and was a race winner with Racing Engineering at Istanbul in 2010.
“We’re delighted to welcome Dani to the team,” enthused MP Motorsport team principal, Sander Dorsman. “The experience he brings to the team will be priceless. He’s won in GP2 and has tested in Formula 1. We’re all really looking forward to working with him for the first time in Hungary this weekend.”
Although Adrian Quaife-Hobs will understandably be eager to continue progressing during his debut season in the GP2 Series with Hilmer Motorsport, many are surprised to see a talent such as Robin Frijns run out of budget to continue competing in the category. The reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series Champion made his debut in the Series in Bahrain with the German outfit, before winning the Spanish Grand Prix feature race and finishing 2nd in the sprint race.
“So that was it then. No money no drive,” explained Robin Frijns, on the social networking site Twitter. “Winning Championship [sic] is not enough these days! Good luck for all the GP2 boys!”
The 21-year-old Dutchman is currently Sauber’s reserve driver, and drove for the Swiss outfit during their Young Driver Test at Silverstone last week. He will unquestionably be striving to return to the Series, after a highly competitive start to the season. For the likes of Dani Clos, Ricardo Teixeira and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, it is their time to shine behind the wheel of the Renault-powered Dallara GP2/11.
Picture Copyright © Malcolm Griffiths/GP2 Series Media Service & HRT F1 Team
Stefano Coletti Storms To Historic Home Victory At Monaco
Stefano Coletti has stormed to a historic home victory after the GP2 sprint race around the streets of Monte-Carlo, becoming the first Monegasque driver to take victory around the Principality since Louis Chiron back in 1931. The 24-year-old was followed home by Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Mitch Evans.
After causing the multi-car pile-up at the start of yesterday’s feature race, Arden International’s Johnny Cecotto jr. was excluded from the remainder of the weekend. This meant only 25 drivers took to the grid for the sprint race, with British driver Adrian Quaife-Hobbs on the reverse grid pole alongside Austrian driver Rene Binder. At the start the Briton stormed into the lead ahead of local hero Stefano Coletti, as Rene Binder suffered a frustratingly slow getaway off of the line.
Reigning GP3 Champion Mitch Evans enjoyed a tremendous start from 6th on the grid, working his way up to 3rd by Turn 5 after mastering an overtaking maneuver up the inside of James Calado. Despite starting from pole and initially taking the lead, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs was eventually overtaken by Stefano Coletti for the lead of the race on Lap 2, as the local hero stormed up the inside of the Briton at Turn 10.
As Stefano Coletti began to open up a considerable lead at the front, Daniel Abt and Simon Trummer were struck with drive-thru penalties for jumping the start. As the duo served their penalties, Tom Dillmann entered the pits with a suspected issue on his Russian Time machine. After several further pit-stops, the Frenchman found himself several laps off of the leaders way down in 25th position.
Despite Stefano Coletti’s commanding lead at the front of the order, many battles raged on throughout the order. After a superlative result in the feature race, Kevin Ceccon continued to impress after perfecting an overtaking maneuver on Sam Bird at Turn 10. To avoid a collision the Briton was forced to take avoiding action by cutting the chicane, eventually ceding 7th to the Italian driver. After taking a convincing victory in the feature race, Sam Bird failed to mount a resurgence in the latter stages of the race, as he began to plummet through the order.
As the race entered its closing stages, the battle within the midfield began to intensify as Jon Lancaster and Rio Haryanto collided at Turn 8. This caused a concertina-effect on the field, as Lancaster half spun his Hilmer Motorsport machine but managed to continue. Eventually Stefano Coletti stormed across the line to record a historic victory for Rapax, leading home Adrian Quaife-Hobbs in 2nd and Mitch Evans in 3rd. The Monegasque’s victory has enabled him to strengthen his lead in the Drivers’ Championship, as the Series enters a lengthy gap before reconvening around Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next month.
Results - 30 laps: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Stefano Coletti Rapax 42m50.707s 2. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP + 1.869s 3. Mitch Evans Arden + 2.216s 4. Felipe Nasr Carlin + 2.536s 5. James Calado ART + 3.747s 6. Rene Binder Lazarus + 19.293s 7. Kevin Ceccon Trident + 20.015s 8. Stephane Richelmi DAMS + 20.576s 9. Daniel de Jong MP + 21.197s 10. Jake Rosenzweig Addax + 31.720s 11. Sergio Canamasas Caterham + 34.105s 12. Jolyon Palmer Carlin + 35.775s 13. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering + 36.488s 14. Julian Leal Racing Engineering + 36.913s 15. Robin Frijns Hilmer + 42.125s 16. Rio Haryanto Addax + 43.235s 17. Jon Lancaster Hilmer + 1m03.893s 18. Marcus Ericsson DAMS + 1m04.258s 19. Alexander Rossi Caterham + 1m04.735s 20. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus + 1m05.044s 21. Nathanael Berthon Trident + 1m05.468s 22. Daniel Abt ART + 1m06.174s 23. Simon Trummer Rapax + 1m07.413s 24. Sam Bird Russian Time + 1 lap 25. Tom Dillmann Russian Time + 3 laps
Picture Copyright © Charles Coates/GP2 Series Media Service
James Calado Fastest After Rain-Struck Second Day Of GP2 Test
Britain’s James Calado has ended the second day of the GP2 Barcelona winter test fastest for ART Grand Prix, despite another miserable day which was once again plagued by inclement weather conditions. Arden’s Johnny Cecotto jr. was fastest in the afternoon, but was unable to better the morning benchmark set by James Calado.
After the opening day was plagued by heavy rain and strong winds, the second day dawned in similar conditions at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. This offered the drivers the perfect weather conditions to further test Pirelli’s wet weather tyre, as GP3 graduate Daniel Abt set the early pace for ART Grand Prix. However, the German’s team-mate of James Calado soon asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:50.218 which remained unbeaten as the session wore on.
With the track conditions utterly treacherous as the rain continued to lash down upon the circuit, the morning session was delayed twice as various drivers’ were caught out by the tricky conditions. The first delay was caused by Daniel Abt, who lost control of his car at Turn 4 and clipped the retaining barrier, therefore prematurely ending his morning session. Johnny Cecotto jr. also went off at Turn 4, causing yet a further delay in the closing minutes of the session.
During the lunch break the rain ceased, therefore sparking hope throughout the GP2 paddock that dry weather running would be achieved throughout the afternoon session. Simon Trummer and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs set the initial benchmark as proceedings got back underway at the Spanish circuit, before the rain returned once again and shattered any hope of dry running later in the day. Another red flag delay was caused when Riccardo Agostini stopped at Turn 4, before two further delays ensued when Julian Leal beached his Racing Engineering machine into the gravel bed and Rene Binder went off at Turn 7.
Johnny Cecotto jr. managed to rise to the top of the timing sheets as the session entered its final hour, with the Venezuelan driver setting a 01:52.781 for Arden International. His time remained unchallenged as the day drew to a close, as a further red flag delay was caused when Daniel Abt once again stopped at Turn 4 in the dying minutes of the session. The final day of GP2 winter testing is scheduled to get underway tomorrow at 9am local time, with the weather forecasting dryer conditions at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. James Calado ART 1m50.218s 30 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m50.902s + 0.684s 14 3. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m51.642s + 1.424s 29 4. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m51.689s + 1.471s 17 5. Daniel Abt ART 1m52.034s + 1.816s 24 6. Mitch Evans Arden 1m52.176s + 1.958s 24 7. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m52.233s + 2.015s 23 8. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m52.266s + 2.048s 23 9. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m52.296s + 2.078s 17 10. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m52.457s + 2.239s 19 11. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m52.594s + 2.376s 26 12. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m52.685s + 2.467s 29 13. Daniel de Jong MP 1m52.692s + 2.474s 30 14. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m52.946s + 2.728s 26 15. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m53.100s + 2.882s 25 16. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m53.160s + 2.942s 21 17. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m53.216s + 2.998s 25 18. Robin Frijns Trident 1m53.649s + 3.431s 2 19. Christopher Zanella Russian Time 1m53.772s + 3.554s 23 20. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m53.912s + 3.694s 17 21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m53.994s + 3.776s 12 22. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m54.075s + 3.857s 18 23. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m54.547s + 4.329s 20 24. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m54.857s + 4.639s 22 25. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m55.077s + 4.859s 16 26. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m55.366s + 5.148s 30 Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m52.781s 18 2. James Calado ART 1m52.878s + 0.097s 28 3. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m52.892s + 0.111s 24 4. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m53.081s + 0.300s 21 5. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m53.243s + 0.462s 30 6. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m53.414s + 0.633s 32 7. Daniel de Jong MP 1m53.515s + 0.734s 26 8. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m53.524s + 0.743s 37 9. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m53.818s + 1.037s 14 10. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m53.819s + 1.038s 23 11. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m53.920s + 1.139s 22 12. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m53.983s + 1.202s 22 13. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m54.137s + 1.356s 29 14. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m54.161s + 1.380s 36 15. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m54.240s + 1.459s 18 16. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m54.349s + 1.568s 14 17. Robin Frijns Trident 1m54.360s + 1.579s 18 18. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m54.494s + 1.713s 33 19. Mitch Evans Arden 1m54.513s + 1.732s 17 20. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m54.563s + 1.782s 27 21. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m54.662s + 1.881s 35 22. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m54.845s + 2.064s 23 23. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m54.940s + 2.159s 23 24. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m55.359s + 2.578s 26 25. Christopher Zanella Russian Time 1m55.425s + 2.644s 12 26. Daniel Abt ART 1m55.770s + 2.989s 26
Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
Stefano Coletti Quickest In Wet Opening Day Of Barcelona Test
Stefano Coletti has ended the opening day of the final GP2 winter test fastest around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, on a drying circuit after a morning plagued by inclement weather conditions. James Calado managed to top the morning period for ART Grand Prix, despite the miserable weather conditions.
The opening day of the final test dawned in treacherous weather conditions, with heavy rain and strong winds battering the Circuit de Catalunya. The Rapax of Simon Trummer eventually became the first driver to venture into the dreadful conditions, however after 30 minutes of track action only four drivers had set a time with Daniel de Jong at the top for MP Motorsport.
Several red flag delays plagued proceedings as the morning period wore on, with numerous drivers being caught out by the treacherous conditions on track. Rio Haryanto made contact with the barrier at Turn 2, before Kevin Giovesi stopped at Turn 8. Tom Dillmann momentarily topped the timing sheets for newcomers Russian Time, before James Calado lowered the benchmark with a 01:50.928. A further red flag delay was caused as the session drew to a wet conclusion when Rodolfo Gonzalez and Ma Qing Hua spun simultaneously at Turns 7 and 12 respectively.
James Calado was fastest during the wet morning period.
After the wet morning period, many were understandably thrilled when the rain ceased prior to the resumption of track action for the afternoon period. As the track gradually dried out, times began to improve as many of the drivers made the switch from wet to dry tyres. Russian Time team-mates Tom Dillmann and Luciano Bacheta became one of the first drivers to switch to the dry tyres, therefore leaping to 1st and 2nd on the timing sheets respectively.
During the final hour of the day the time at the top quickly began to tumble, with many drivers momentarily rising to the top. Robin Frijns became one of the first drivers to dip beneath the 01:30s barrier, before Felipe Nasr and then Stefano Coletti rose to the top with the latter setting a 01:29.868 to end the opening day fastest on a drying track. The GP2 fraternity will be hoping for a much dryer remainder of the week, as they aim to continue preparing for the new season which gets underway at the end of the month.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. James Calado ART 1m50.928s 20 2. Daniel de Jong MP 1m51.858s + 0.930s 34 3. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m52.240s + 1.312s 27 4. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m52.316s + 1.388s 21 5. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m52.334s + 1.406s 24 6. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m52.355s + 1.427s 15 7. Daniel Abt ART 1m52.416s + 1.488s 19 8. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m52.630s + 1.702s 19 9. Robin Frijns Trident 1m52.716s + 1.788s 15 10. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m53.097s + 2.169s 28 11. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m53.252s + 2.324s 25 12. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m53.307s + 2.379s 37 13. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m53.383s + 2.455s 17 14. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m53.549s + 2.621s 20 15. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m53.613s + 2.685s 30 16. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m53.621s + 2.693s 33 17. Mitch Evans Arden 1m53.690s + 2.762s 28 18. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m53.822s + 2.894s 25 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m53.957s + 3.029s 17 20. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m54.099s + 3.171s 28 21. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m54.641s + 3.713s 14 22. Luciano Bacheta Russian Time 1m54.948s + 4.020s 17 23. Pal Varhaug Hilmer 1m55.910s + 4.982s 20 24. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m57.604s + 6.676s 9 25. Stefano Coletti Rapax 2 26. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1 Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m29.868s 24 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m29.926s + 0.058s 18 3. Robin Frijns Trident 1m29.951s + 0.083s 19 4. James Calado ART 1m30.239s + 0.371s 24 5. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m30.323s + 0.455s 25 6. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m30.335s + 0.467s 16 7. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m30.350s + 0.482s 22 8. Daniel de Jong MP 1m30.487s + 0.619s 23 9. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m30.505s + 0.637s 23 10. Daniel Abt ART 1m30.522s + 0.654s 21 11. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m30.551s + 0.683s 16 12. Mitch Evans Arden 1m30.781s + 0.913s 24 13. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m30.831s + 0.963s 29 14. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m31.027s + 1.159s 25 15. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m31.032s + 1.164s 21 16. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m31.035s + 1.167s 25 17. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m31.075s + 1.207s 24 18. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m31.433s + 1.565s 22 19. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m31.520s + 1.652s 28 20. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m31.626s + 1.758s 23 21. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m32.141s + 2.273s 29 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m32.178s + 2.310s 23 23. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m32.586s + 2.718s 24 24. Luciano Bacheta Russian Time 1m32.712s + 2.844s 32 25. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m33.360s + 3.492s 26 26. Pal Varhaug Hilmer 1m34.357s + 4.489s 17
Picture(s) Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
James Calado Ends GP2 Jerez Test Fastest
James Calado ended the final day of the GP2 Jerez test fastest overall for ART Grand Prix, in a day which began with damp track conditions. The British driver set the fastest time in the afternoon period, whereas fellow countryman Adrian Quaife-Hobbs reigned supreme during the morning session.
Unlike the previous two days, the third and final day of the test dawned in damp conditions after overnight rainfall. This forced the majority of the drivers to initially take to the Spanish circuit on the wet weather tyre, despite the sun making a welcome appearance soon after. Johnny Cecotto jr. set the initial pace for Arden International, however as the track dried out the times quickly began to tumble.
Despite the tricky track conditions to begin with the morning session ran relatively incident-free, until Johnny Cecotto jr. stopped out on track. Stephane Richelmi continued to impress for DAMS, as the Monegasque driver rose to the top before his Swedish team-mate, Marcus Ericsson, did likewise.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs was fastest in the morning period, despite the damp start.
Another brief red flag delay was caused as the morning session drew to a conclusion, after the Carlin of Jolyon Palmer stopped out on track. Once track action had recommenced, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs shot to the top for newcomers MP Motorsport with a 01:26.442, eventually ending the session fastest ahead of Stephane Richelmi in 2nd and Marcus Ericsson in 3rd.
By the time the afternoon session began the track had finally dried out, therefore allowing the drivers to carry out race simulations and pit-stop practices. James Calado took control of proceedings early on in the session with a 01:24.659, a time which allowed the 23-year-old the remain at the top for the remainder of the session. Another red flag delay was caused only moments before the end of the session when the Arden of Mitch Evans stopped on track. Calado was eventually followed by Simon Trummer in 2nd and Fabio Leimer in 3rd.
The GP2 fraternity will reconvene in several days time for the second and final pre-season test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, which is scheduled to begin on March 5th for a further three days. Once completed, the teams’ and drivers’ will proceed to Malaysia for the opening round of the new season.
Morning times: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m26.442s 28 2. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m26.884s + 0.442s 21 3. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m26.904s + 0.462s 22 4. Daniel de Jong MP 1m27.025s + 0.583s 32 5. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m27.121s + 0.679s 17 6. Robin Frijns Trident 1m27.156s + 0.714s 12 7. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m27.208s + 0.766s 24 8. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m27.239s + 0.797s 6 9. Nathanael Berthon Trident 1m27.514s + 1.072s 10 10. Mitch Evans Arden 1m27.560s + 1.118s 18 11. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m27.846s + 1.404s 16 12. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m28.299s + 1.857s 25 13. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m28.379s + 1.937s 21 14. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m28.489s + 2.047s 15 15. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m29.147s + 2.705s 13 16. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m29.303s + 2.861s 23 17. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m29.303s + 2.861s 23 18. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m30.372s + 3.930s 23 19. James Calado ART 1m48.064s + 21.622s 12 20. Daniel Abt ART 1m56.592s + 30.150s 12 21. Tom Dillmann Hilmer 1 22. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 6 23. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1 Afternoon times: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. James Calado ART 1m24.659s 54 2. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m25.045s + 0.386s 26 3. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m25.133s + 0.474s 27 4. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m25.138s + 0.479s 35 5. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m25.148s + 0.489s 38 6. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m25.269s + 0.610s 39 7. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m25.276s + 0.617s 38 8. Mitch Evans Arden 1m25.309s + 0.650s 41 9. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m25.318s + 0.659s 44 10. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m25.497s + 0.838s 40 11. Robin Frijns Trident 1m25.572s + 0.913s 23 12. Daniel Abt ART 1m25.695s + 1.036s 56 13. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m25.829s + 1.170s 37 14. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m25.833s + 1.174s 47 15. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m25.862s + 1.203s 17 16. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m25.883s + 1.224s 33 17. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m25.896s + 1.237s 43 18. Daniel de Jong MP 1m25.959s + 1.300s 31 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m26.031s + 1.372s 39 20. Nathanael Berthon Trident 1m26.049s + 1.390s 21 21. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m26.133s + 1.474s 43 22. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m26.767s + 2.108s 38
Picture(s) Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
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