Joylon Palmer headed the sole GP2 Series practice ahead of today’s qualifying session at Monza.
Under searing sunshine, the Carlin racer secured the top spot with a best of 1:32.120 in the final ten minutes, displacing Racing Engineering’s Fabio Leimer who headed much of the session.
Sam Bird and Stephane Richelmi made it four different teams in the top four positions, placing their RUSSIAN TIME and DAMS machine 3rd and 4th respectively, while Bird’s teammate Tom Dillmann rounded out the top five, just one-thousandth off of Richelmi’s pace.
Series points leader Stefano Coletti recorded the 6th best time in his Rapax ahead of Julian Leal and Simon Trummer, while a confident Marcus Ericsson took, despite an apparent electrical issue that ended his session prematurely.. Alexander Rossi was the only Caterham in the top ten.
There was an early, but brief, red flag period when Johnny Cecotto Jr spun onto the circuit after running wide at the Parabolica. Coletti also experienced some woes when he clipped the rear of Cecotto Jr, breaking his from wing in the process, necessitating a lengthy stop.
Sergio Canamasas brought his session to an early conclusion when he spun off at the Ascari chicane.
2013 GP2 Series (Rd 9, Free Practice 1) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m32.120s 12 2. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m32.123s +0.003 11 3. Sam Bird Russian Time 1m32.351s +0.231 11 4. Stefano Richelmi DAMS 1m32.501s +0.381 13 5. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m32.502s +0.382 10 6. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m32.532s +0.412 12 7. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m32.586s +0.466 11 8. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m32.634s +0.514 13 9. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m32.711s +0.591 12 10. Alexander Rossi Caterham 1m32.743s +0.623 12 11. James Calado ART 1m32.863s +0.743 13 12. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Hilmer 1m32.877s +0.757 13 13. Mitch Evans Arden 1m32.951s +0.831 12 14. Dani Clos MP Motorsport 1m32.966s +0.846 11 15. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m33.029s +0.909 12 16. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m33.045s +0.925 11 17. Jon Lancaster Hilmer 1m33.067s +0.947 12 18. Daniel Abt ART 1m33.092s +0.972 13 19. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m33.172s +1.052 10 20. Nathanael Berthon Trident 1m33.174s +1.054 13 21. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m33.369s +1.249 11 22. Johnny Cecotto Jr. Arden 1m33.389s +1.269 11 23. Daniel de Jong MP Motorsport 1m33.447s +1.327 12 24. Vittorio Ghirelli Lazarus 1m33.465s +1.345 13 25. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m33.943s +1.823 12 26. Sergio Campana Trident 1m34.448s +2.328 12
