Series leader fastest in Abu Dhabi

Series leader fastest in Abu Dhabi

LEIMER LEADS THE WAY IN FREE PRACTICE—

Fabio Leimer has started the final weekend of the 2013 GP2 Series in fine style after claiming the top spot in this morning’s free practice session at Yas Marina Circuit, stealing the spot in his final lap to head title rival Sam Bird and Dani Clos.
 
The points leader set a time of 1:51.766 on his final lap to claim best time from Bird, but the Englishman appeared to be on a faster lap before slowing slightly in the final sector, relinquishing the position he had held for much of the session in the process.
 
The practice session took place under blazing skies, with times tumbling throughout as the drivers came to grips with the circuit and their tyres: Jolyon Palmer set the first competitive lap before Bird claimed the top spot just 8 minutes in, improving his time later before Clos took over on the leaderboard with just over ten minutes remaining.
 
As the pace improved a number of drivers ran wide, showing just how hard they were working to improve their times: Bird regained the top spot with four minutes remaining, but Leimer laid down a marker for the championship battle as the chequered flag came out.
 
Alexander Rossi, James Calado, Tom Dillmann, Jon Lancaster, Stéphane Richelmi, Johnny Cecotto and Felipe Nasr filled the timesheets behind the top three, with just one second covering the first 11 drivers: the pace promises to heat up even more when qualifying starts a few hours from now.
Abu Dhabi – Free Practice
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:51.766
10
2.
Sam Bird
RUSSIAN TIME
1:51.924
13
3.
Dani Clos
MP Motorsport
1:52.019
11
4.
Alexander Rossi
EQ8 Caterham Racing
1:52.061
13
5.
James Calado
ART Grand Prix
1:52.162
11
6.
Tom Dillmann
RUSSIAN TIME
1:52.175
12
7.
Jon Lancaster
Hilmer Motorsport
1:52.543
12
8.
Stéphane Richelmi
DAMS
1:52.573
14
9.
Johnny Cecotto
Arden International
1:52.583
12
10.
Felipe Nasr
Carlin
1:52.697
14
11.
Rene Binder
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:52.709
14
12.
Marcus Ericsson
DAMS
1:52.801
13
13.
Jolyon Palmer
Carlin
1:52.822
14
14.
Nathanaël Berthon
Trident Racing
1:52.853
13
15.
Jake Rosenzweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:52.870
11
16.
Julian Leal
Racing Engineering
1:52.973
12
17.
Sergio Canamasas
EQ8 Caterham Racing
1:53.225
13
18.
Simon Trummer
Rapax
1:53.383
13
19
Daniel Abt
ART Grand Prix
1:53.472
13
20.
Rio Haryanto
Barwa Addax Team
1:53.552
12
21.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
Hilmer Motorsport
1:53.638
11
22.
Daniel De Jong
MP Motorsport
1:53.750
11
23.
Stefano Coletti
Rapax
1:53.986
10
24.
Vittorio Ghirelli
Venezuela GP Lazarus
1:54.435
14
25.
Gianmarco Raimondo
Trident Racing
1:55.291
14
26.
Mitch Evans
Arden International
2:00.043
10