Gutierrez fastest on day two of GP2 Barcelona test

© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger

Esteban Gutierrez rose to the top of the time sheets as the second day of GP2 testing at the Circuit de Catalunya closed.

The Lotus GP pilot made the best of the cold morning conditions to set a best of 1:28.740 – a mere four-thousandths quicker than Caterham rival Giedo van der Garde. Carlin’s Max Chilton finished a further four-thousandths adrift in 3rd position.

It had been a very busy day for the Mexican, who had registered 83 laps by the time the evening chequered flag flew – only teammate James Calado (86 laps) and Arden’s Simon Trummer (85 laps) logged more miles than Gutierrez.

Davide Valsecchi spent part of the morning 3rd on the timing sheets, before van der Garde dropped the Italian one place on the sheets thanks to a quick late run.
In 5th spot, Scuderia Coloni’s Stefano Coletti was the first driver to not break the ‘1:29’ barrier, while Arden’s Luiz Razia lined-up 6th, as he made up for missing Tuesday’s sessions. Calado had been quickest in the early hours, but fell behind as the track conditions warmed amidst qualifying simulations during the lead up to lunch.

Having been quickest on the opening day, Fabrizio Crestani dropped to 8th after only managing 43 laps in the new Venezuela GP Lazarus machine, while Jolyon Palmer (iSport, 9th) and Fabio Onidi (Scuderia Coloni, 10th) rounded out the top ten.

Trident’s Julian Leal ran quickest in the slower afternoon session. The Colombian headed Ocean Racing Technology’s Nigel Melker; however having fallen far short of the mileage completed by Gutierrez (etc), both drivers may be somewhat disappointed.
Much of the afternoon running was dedicated to race simulations and pit stop practice – a vital component in the big paying Feature Race that leads every GP2 race weekend.

Pos  Driver                   Team                       Time      Laps
 1.  Esteban Gutierrez        Lotus GP                   1:28.740   83
 2.  Giedo van der Garde      Caterham Racing            1:28.744   78
 3.  Max Chilton              Carlin                     1:28.748   66
 4.  Davide Valsecchi         DAMS                       1:28.785   57
 5.  Stefano Coletti          Scuderia Coloni            1:29.047   54
 6.  Luiz Razia               Arden International        1:29.065   65
 7.  James Calado             Lotus GP                   1:29.100   86
 8.  Fabrizio Crestani        Venezuela GP Lazarus       1:29.150   43
 9.  Jolyon Palmer            iSport International       1:29.195   62
10.  Fabio Onidi              Scuderia Coloni            1:29.198   60
11.  Tom Dillmann             Rapax                      1:29.289   49
12.  Fabio Leimer             Racing Engineering         1:29.339   64
13.  Nathanael Berthon        Racing Engineering         1:29.397   74
14.  Rio Haryanto             Carlin                     1:29.515   56
15.  Jon Lancaster            Ocean Racing Technology    1:29.533   64
16.  Nigel Melker             Ocean Racing Technology    1:29.540   44
17.  Marcus Ericsson          iSport International       1:29.547   64
18.  Josef Kral               Barwa Addax Team           1:29.621   59
19.  Julian Leal              Trident Racing             1:29.653   48
20.  Felipe Nasr              DAMS                       1:29.865   67
21.  Stephane Richelmi        Trident Racing             1:29.860   61
22.  Simon Trummer            Arden International        1:29.881   85
23.  Rodolfo Gonzalez         Caterham Racing            1:30.169   83
24.  Johnny Cecotto           Barwa Addax Team           1:30.200   62
25.  Ricardo Teixeira         Rapax                      1:31.220   50
26.  Giancarlo Serenelli      Venezuela GP Lazarus       1:32.740   61

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