
Sometimes when time is precious, it often slips from our fingertips, whittled away by circumstances beyond our control.
Yesterday, at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the lingering effects of a sandstorm halted running for long periods, before rain showers interfered further with track time. During a period when the new GP2/11 cars needed to be on track to gain valuable information, fog set in.
One hour had passed before any cars could venture out and when they did, it was Ferrari-junior driver, Jules Bianchi that set the fastest pace of the morning (1:50.007). The Frenchman in his Lotus-ART machine found himself only marginally quicker than the Barwa Addax pilot, Giedo van der Garde, with Sam Bird (3rd, 1:50.120) and Charles Pic (4th, 1:50.166) shadowing.
The loss of time severely limited running for much of the field, with Bianchi banking the highest number of laps before lunch (27); however most of the entrants completed between 14 and 19 tours of the circuit. Three red flags during the morning did not help matters as the field endured a stuttered session.
The afternoon stint was a much cleaner affair; however the top-four from morning repeated this feat later in the day, albeit in a slightly different order. This time around van der Garde led the way with a 1:48.499 – a clear three-tenths ahead of iSport’s Sam Bird. Again, neither driver held out for significant stints (17 and 14 laps respectively); however they did secure more track time than 3rd place Bianchi – the Frenchman completed only 12 laps.
Pic was next up, as he notched up 23 laps with a best time of 1:49.156 in his Barwa Addax machine. Romain Grosjean (DAMS) and Max Chilton (Carlin) were the busiest during the afternoon; both completed 25 laps as they attempt to understand the new GP2 car – the pair finished approximately one second off of van der Garde’s pace in 7th and 8th places respectively.
The day was cut 15 minutes early when Scuderia Coloni driver, James Jakes damaged the barriers in an accident. By the time the GP2 cars fire up at the next test on Sunday, hopefully all the poor weather and bad luck will have dissipated.
Morning session
Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
1. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:50.007 | 27 |
2. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.066 | 18 |
3. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:50.120 | 11 |
4. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.166 | 19 |
5. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:50.276 | 13 |
6. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:50.343 | 24 |
7. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:50.539 | 15 |
8. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:50.544 | 15 |
9. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:50.561 | 18 |
10. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:50.616 | 14 |
11. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:50.641 | 24 |
12. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:50.787 | 16 |
13. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:50.894 | 20 |
14. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:5-.969 | 16 |
15. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:51.122 | 15 |
16. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:51.190 | 16 |
17. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:51.198 | 18 |
18. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:51.347 | 20 |
19. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 1:51.369 | 16 |
20. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:51.456 | 19 |
21. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:51.482 | 21 |
22. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:51.571 | 6 |
23. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:51.615 | 16 |
24. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:51.760 | 14 |
25. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:51.802 | 21 |
26. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:52.141 | 19 |
Afternoon session
Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
1. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:48.499 | 17 |
2. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:48.778 | 14 |
3. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:48.868 | 12 |
4. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:49.156 | 23 |
5. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:49.185 | 20 |
6. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:49.220 | 13 |
7. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:49.340 | 25 |
8. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:49.413 | 25 |
9. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:49.431 | 20 |
10. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:49.474 | 14 |
11. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:49.591 | 20 |
12. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:49.627 | 19 |
13. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:49.740 | 15 |
14. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean racing Technology | 1:49.888 | 23 |
15. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:49.914 | 24 |
16. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:49.945 | 14 |
17. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:49.956 | 19 |
18. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:49.982 | 19 |
19. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 1:50.129 | 9 |
20. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:50.207 | 16 |
21. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:50.310 | 15 |
22. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:50.495 | 22 |
23. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:50.566 | 20 |
24. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:50.703 | 13 |
25. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:50.727 | 16 |
26. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:50.995 | 17 |