Robin Frijns

Robin Frijns sets the pace in opening practice-
 
Hilmer Motorsport driver quickest at the Nurburgring…
 
Hilmer Motorsport resumed their display of speed in this morning’s free practice at the Nurburgring: rookie and Barcelona race winner Robin Frijns topped the session with a laptime of 1:39.838, one tenth quicker than Sam Bird. Rookie Mitch Evans completed the top three.
 
The session opened  under grey skies but on a dry track. The twenty-six cars fed to the track on Medium Pirelli tyres as soon as the lights turned green. The times tumbled quickly until Series leader Stefano Coletti set the early pace in a 1:40.340, six tenths of a second quicker than closest rival James Calado. But Frijns was on a mission this morning and topped the timesheet after he found some extra pace to better the Monegasque’s laptime by nine hundredths. Tom Dillmann moved up to third, but his teammate Bird was the first man to break under the 1m40s barrier. The Brit set the first two sectors in purple and improved in the third sector to claim the top spot with a laptime of 1:39.962.
 
Just before the session hit the hallway mark, Frijns put his head down and edged Bird out of the top improving the Brit’s laptime by one tenth of a second. The Dutchman made his way back to the pits along with most of the field. Fabio Leimer moved up to P3 just before returning to the pits as well. Stéphane Richelmi was also on a flyer with a quickest first sector and an improved second sector, but the DAMS man rejoined the pits before completing his lap. With most of the drivers back into the pits, Evans enjoyed a clear track to improve his personal best and claim third spot.
 
The final minutes of the session did not see any changes at the top of the standings and was trouble-free except for a small scare from Calado who ran a bit too wide, but managed to rejoin the track safely. At the chequered flag, Frijns led the pack ahead of Bird, Evans, Leimer, Coletti, Calado, Jolyon Palmer, Dillmann, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Rene Binder.
 
The qualifying session will take place at 15.55 (local time). No doubt that teams and drivers will give the Super Soft tyres a spin to try and claim the pole position.
Nurburg – Free Practice
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Robin Frijns
Hilmer Motorsport
1:39.838
14
2.
Sam Bird
RUSSIAN TIME
1:39.962
13
3.
Mitch Evans
Arden International
1:40.165
12
4.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:40.304
12
5.
Stefano Coletti
Rapax
1:40.340
13
6.
James Calado
ART Grand Prix
1:40.425
13
7.
Jolyon Palmer
Carlin
1:40.457
13
8.
Tom Dillmann
RUSSIAN TIME
1:40.509
13
9.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
MP Motorsport
1:40.533
13
10.
Rene Binder
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:40.652
14
11.
Marcus Ericsson
DAMS
1:40.782
14
12.
Felipe Nasr
Carlin
1:40.797
13
13.
Johnny Cecotto
Arden International
1:40.813
15
14.
Stéphane Richelmi
DAMS
1:40.830
14
15.
Kevin Ceccon
Trident Racing
1:40.883
13
16.
Julian Leal
Racing Engineering
1:40.941
12
17.
Nathanaël Berthon
Trident Racing
1:40.949
14
18.
Alexander Rossi
EQ8 Caterham Racing
1:40.951
12
19
Sergio Canamasas
EQ8 Caterham Racing
1:40.982
13
20.
Simon Trummer
Rapax
1:41.096
15
21.
Rio Haryanto
Barwa Addax Team
1:41.230
13
22.
Daniel De Jong
MP Motorsport
1:41.356
13
23.
Fabrizui Crestani
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:41.500
14
24.
Jon Lancaster
Hilmer Motorsport
1:41.709
14
25.
Jake Rosenzweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:41.805
12
26.
Daniel Abt
ART Grand Prix
1:42.324
12