Felipe Nasr testing barca 2013

STEFANO COLETTI ENDS ON TOP-
Rapax driver quickest on final pre-season test day in Barcelona
 
Less than two weeks before the 2013 GP2 Series season kicks off in Malaysia, Stefano Coletti confirmed his good form today: the Monegasque driver topped a dry testing day in Barcelona in the morning session with a laptime of 1:29.055. Felipe Nasr was fastest in the afternoon for Carlin.
 
A clear blue sky welcomed the GP2 drivers at the Circuit de Catalunya this morning for the final day of pre-season testing. As the pitlane opened, the track was still damp though pushing the majority of drivers to opt for wet weather tyres for the first half of the session. Stéphane Richelmi was the early pace setter, but his teammate Marcus Ericsson took control of the timesheets after one hour done and dusted in the session.
 
At the halfway mark and on a drying track, Riccardo Agostini was the first driver to test the hard compounds and to significantly improve on Ericsson’s best laptime. The rest of the field also switched to slicks and it was again Ericsson on soft tyres who set the best laptime in a 1:29.606 until a red flag was waved when Rene Binder spun and stopped at Turn 5. At the restart, most drivers opted for the Soft Pirelli compounds and Coletti found extra pace to set the best laptime of the session with a 1:29.055, one tenth clear from Ericsson. Richelmi, Jolyon Palmer, Sergio Canamasas, James Calado, and rookies Kevin Giovesi, Mitch Evans, Daniel Abt and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs rounded up the top ten.
 
The afternoon session opened one hour later on a dry track. Conor Daly replaced Riccardo Agostini at Hilmer Motorsport. Fabio Leimer set the early pace, but Coletti (on the hard compound) edged him out of the top spot. The Rapax driver remained in control of the timesheets until mid-session when Nasr on soft compounds set the fastest second and third sectors to claim top spot a shy 0.09s quicker than Coletti. In the closing stages, the Monegasque driver reduced the gap slightly to end three hundredths slower than Nasr. Taking advantage of a dry track after two days of wet weather, the drivers focused mainly on race simulations and pit-stop practice. Tom Dillmann finished third ahead of Leimer, Quaife-Hobbs, Robin Frijns, Calado, Giovesi, Evans and Daly.
 
This marked the end of the pre-season testing for GP2 Series. In two weeks time, the paddock will gather in Sepang, Malaysia, for the opening round of the eighth season of the category.
 
Morning results
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Stefano Coletti
Rapax
1:29.055
30
2.
Marcus Ericsson
DAMS
1:29.217
35
3.
Stéphane Richelmi
DAMS
1:29.453
39
4.
Jolyon Palmer
Carlin
1:29.467
28
5.
Sergio Canamasas
Caterham Racing
1:29.611
36
6.
James Calado
ART Grand Prix
1:29.624
33
7.
Kevin Giovesi
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:29.812
32
8.
Mitch Evans
Arden International
1:29.902
34
9.
Daniel Abt
ART Grand Prix
1:29.994
30
10.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
MP Motorsport
1:30.012
23
11.
Daniel De Jong
MP Motorsport
1:30.037
26
12.
Robin Frijns
RUSSIAN TIME
1:30.168
24
13.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:30.244
22
14.
Pal Varhaug
Hilmer Motorsport
1:30.300
26
15.
Felipe Nasr
Carlin
1:30.459
27
16.
Rene Binder
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:30.484
19
17.
Jake Rosenzweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:30.620
16
18.
Johnny Cecotto
Arden International
1:30.635
31
19.
Simon Trummer
Rapax
1:30.667
28
20.
Riccardo Agostini
Hilmer Motorsport
1:30.724
35
21.
Rio Haryanto
Barwa Addax Team
1:30.813
29
22.
Tom Dillmann
RUSSIAN TIME
1:30.855
27
23.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Trident Racing
1:31.029
13
24.
Ma Qing Hua
Caterham Racing
1:31.035
32
25.
Julian Leal
Racing Engineering
1:31.220
14
Afternoon results
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Felipe Nasr
Carlin
1:29.381
46
2.
Stefano Coletti
Rapax
1:29.414
28
3.
Tom Dillmann
RUSSIAN TIME
1:29.843
37
4.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:29.862
30
5.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
MP Motorsport
1:29.914
39
6.
Robin Frijns
RUSSIAN TIME
1:30.053
29
7.
James Calado
ART Grand Prix
1:30.256
55
8.
Kevin Giovesi
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:30.318
33
9.
Mitch Evans
Arden International
1:30.324
34
10.
Conor Daly
Hilmer Motorsport
1:30.417
37
11.
Daniel De Jong
MP Motorsport
1:30.441
29
12.
Rene Binder
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:30.454
28
13.
Pal Varhaug
Hilmer Motorsport
1:30.554
41
14.
Julian Leal
Racing Engineering
1:30.601
36
15.
Stéphane Richelmi
DAMS
1:30.643
40
16.
Daniel Abt
ART Grand Prix
1:30.721
52
17.
Sergio Canamasas
Caterham racing
1:30.813
54
18.
Johnny Cecotto
Arden International
1:30.821
33
19.
Marcus Ericsson
DAMS
1:30.823
40
20.
Simon Trummer
Rapax
1:30.884
43
21.
Jolyon Palmer
Carlin
1:30.918
28
22.
Rio Haryanto
Barwa Addax Team
1:30.997
42
23.
Jake Rosenzweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:31.271
38
24.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Trident Racing
1:31.368
37
25.
Ma Qing Hua
Caterham Racing
1:31.370
53