“GP2 Series: Leal tops practice”

Carlin’s Julian Leal topped the GP2 Series free practice session this afternoon, ahead of Johnny Cecotto Jr and Raffaele Marciello.

The Colombian set a best time of 1:57.877 in his Mechachrome-Renault-powered Dallara to keep him two and four-tenths ahead of his rivals respectively.

Cecotto held the top spot at the halfway point, only Leal to better the experienced Trident man thereafter. As the clock ticked down, the session was delayed by red flags when Racing Engineering’s Stefano Coletti spun and ended in the middle of the road.

Venezuela GP Lazarus pairing Nathanaël Berthon and Conor Daly secured 4th and 5th; however the pairing have often dropped backward during qualifying. McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne took 6th with his ART Grand Prix machine. Championship leader Jolyon Palmer set the initial pace; however he fell down the order as the session progressed.

The session was delayed by red flags toward its conclusion when Racing Engineering’s Stefano Coletti spun and ended in the middle of the road.

2014 GP2 Series (Rd 7, Free practice, Spa-Francorchamps)
Pos  Driver               Team                Time       Gap
 1.  Julian Leal          Carlin              1m57.877s
 2.  Johnny Cecotto Jr    Trident             1m58.030s  +0.153s
 3.  Raffaele Marciello   Racing Engineering  1m58.265s  +0.388s
 4.  Nathanael Berthon    Lazarus             1m58.291s  +0.414s
 5.  Conor Daly           Lazarus             1m58.302s  +0.425s
 6.  Stoffel Vandoorne    ART                 1m58.339s  +0.462s
 7.  Sergio Canamasas     Trident             1m58.370s  +0.493s
 8.  Stefano Coletti      Racing Engineering  1m58.374s  +0.497s
 9.  Stephane Richelmi    DAMS                1m58.399s  +0.522s
10.  Mitch Evans          Russian Time        1m58.439s  +0.562s
11.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs  Rapax               1m58.454s  +0.577s
12.  Jolyon Palmer        DAMS                1m58.462s  +0.585s
13.  Marco Sorensen       MP                  1m58.487s  +0.610s
14.  Felipe Nasr          Carlin              1m58.658s  +0.781s
15.  Simon Trummer        Rapax               1m58.787s  +0.910s
16.  Rio Haryanto         Caterham            1m58.800s  +0.923s
17.  Takuya Izawa         ART                 1m58.889s  +1.012s
18.  Tom Dillmann         Caterham            1m58.923s  +1.046s
19.  Daniel Abt           Hilmer              1m58.943s  +1.066s
20.  Arthur Pic           Campos              1m59.020s  +1.143s
21.  Rene Binder          Arden               1m59.167s  +1.290s
22.  Jon Lancaster        Hilmer              1m59.179s  +1.302s
23.  Daniel de Jong       MP                  1m59.311s  +1.434s
24.  Andre Negrao         Arden               1m59.463s  +1.586s
25.  Artem Markelov       Russian Time        1m59.531s  +1.654s
26.  Kimiya Sato          Campos              1m59.564s  +1.687s

Leave a Reply