iSport International’s Marcus Ericsson topped the second and final day of GP2 testing at the Silverstone Arena circuit yesterday.
The Swede topped the 26 car field in very warm conditions that contrasted heavily with Tuesday’s damp weather, although Ericsson would have to secede the morning session to Racing Engineering’s Christian Vietoris.
Indeed Vietoris’ best lap (1:40.218) would hold a quarter-of-a-second advantage over the ever quick Jules Bianchi in his Lotus ART Dallara, while Bianchi was one of several drivers that peaked with 36 laps in the morning.
Ericsson squeezed ahead of Dani Clos come the lunchtime curfew, the Spaniard trailing Ericsson by six-hundredths, although both would be pleased the amount of running they achieved.
It would be Ericsson’s iSport team mate, Sam Bird in 5th spot, some four-tenths down on Vietoris after a 29 lap session and like the quicker iSport runner, Bird would possess a tiny advantage over the nearest runners. In fact, Bird pipped Charles Pic (6th, Barwa Addax), Romain Grosjean (7th, DAMS) and Giedo van der Garde (8h, Barwa Addax) by one tenth.
Jolyon Palmer was one of the few that claimed 36 laps on his way to 9th on the sheets. The ex-Formula 2 racer finished ahead of Carlin’s Max Chilton – the Briton was the first to dip into the 1:41’s, leaving him on the perimetre of the top-ten.
Interesting, the morning alone saw five red flags, with the final one happening just prior to clock running out.
Ericsson would not be beaten in the afternoon, although he did leave it late, with a quickest Silverstone tour of 1:40.154 – two-tenths clear of Bianchi (again).
As with the morning, Bianchi ran 36 laps and is showing himself to be a model of consistency – a factor that will make him very dangerous come the season.
Pic marginally stole 3rd ahead of Vietoris (4th), Grosjean (5th) and Gutierrez (6th, Lotus ART) as the timing screen lit up repeatedly in the final hour, although all may be dismayed to find themselves half-a-second down on Ericsson.
Carlin’s Oliver Turvey entered the top-ten with a best f 1:40.772 following a 29 lap afternoon; however the Briton had a clear two-tenths advantage over Luiz Razia (8th, Team AirAsia), Chilton (9th) and Johnny Cecotto (10th, Ocean Racing Technology).
Rookie Kevin Mirocha made the best of the track time today. Having only tested a GP2 car for the first time on Tuesday, Mirocha ran 76 laps throughout Wednesday as he continues to acclimatise himself to the series.
The GP2 Series will see one final two-day test when hits Barcelona in two weeks time. Thereafter, the serious stuff really begins.
Morning times: Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:40.218 31 2. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:40.442 36 3. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:40.505 34 4. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:40.562 31 5. Sam Bird iSport International 1:40.653 29 6. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:40.692 33 7. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:40.711 30 8. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:40.760 21 9. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:40.840 36 10. Max Chilton Carlin 1:41.024 25 11. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:41.027 21 12. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:41.153 20 13. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:41.183 35 14. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:41.271 25 15. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:41.504 31 16. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:41.587 22 17. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 1:41.591 31 18. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:41.634 22 19. Julian Leal Rapax 1:41.735 28 20. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:41.845 21 21. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:41.905 22 22. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:42.000 16 23. Josef Kral Arden International 1:42.010 23 24. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:42.064 31 25. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:42.092 36 26. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:42.107 26 Afternoon times Post Driver Team Time Laps 1. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:40.154 31 2. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:40.322 36 3. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:40.586 29 4. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:40.589 38 5. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:40.623 23 6. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:40.645 30 7. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:40.772 29 8. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:40.925 33 9. Max Chilton Carlin 1:40.929 27 10. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:40.936 30 11. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:41.019 28 12. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:41.032 31 13. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:41.133 33 14. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:41.241 28 15. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:41.346 21 16. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:41.375 38 17. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 1:41.378 32 18. Josef Kral Arden International 1:41.416 16 19. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:41.432 34 20. Sam Bird iSport International 1:41.503 16 21. Julian Leal Rapax 1:41.600 33 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:41.701 30 23. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:41.839 38 24. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:41.866 40 25. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:42.012 25 26. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:42.240 27
