UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > GP2 Testing: Paul Ricard

Kobayashi again

Kamui Kobayashi was again fastest in the morning session of day two of the GP2 test at Paul Ricard

The Japanese ace continues to impress as he set the fastest laptime in this mornings test session.

Dams is on top form in Paul Ricard as Kamui Kobayashi once again signed the best laptime in a 1:12.828 this morning after he was already the fastest man on track all day yesterday. With Sam Bird at the wheel of the second car setting the fourth fastest time, the French team keeps on marking their territory on this test session.

Also quick, Andres Zuber put the Fisichella Motor Sport International car in second place in a 1:12.644 ahead of Davide Valsecchi’s Durango. Newcomer Chris Van Der Drift, testing for Trident Racing, completed the Top 5 while Luca Filippi on DPR, Fabio Onidi on Piquet Sports, Jérôme d’Ambrosio on Campos, Michael Herck on DPR and Diego Nunes on ART Grand Prix finished in the Top 10.

The Session was shortly interrupted after Ho-Pin Tung went wide in Turn 18 at the wheel of the Campos car.

Kobayashi finished this two-day session at the top of the time sheet before heavy rain hit Paul Ricard.

This afternoon’s session was disturbed by heavy rain, but it was not interrupted as some drivers chose to work on wet conditions. Kamui Kobayashi once again signed the best laptime before the drops in a 1:13.266. His ex-teammate Jérôme d’Ambrosio, testing for Campos today, followed in a 1:13.618 ahead of Luca Filippi on DPR. At the wheel of Trident Racing, Chris Van der Drift was the quickest newcomer this afternoon, closely followed by Davide Valsechi. Diego Nunes, Koudai Tsukakoshi, ex-F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, Fabio Onidi and Michael Herck completed the Top 10.

Stars of Tommorow 2008 #1, Marcus Ericsson made his GP2 debut for iSport. He was twenty-third in the morning improving to twelfth in the afternoon.

With his double today Kobayashi has topped all four sessions during this two-day test.

This concludes this month’s two-day session. Twelve teams will now prepare their travel to Shanghai, China where Qi-Meritus will join them as the thirteenth team for the opening of the second year of the GP2 Asia. A two-day session is scheduled a week prior the first race, on October 8-9.

The next GP2 Series test session will take place on October 29-30 in Jerez, Spain.

Full Times

Morning times:

1. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:12.828 34
2. Andres Zuber FMS International 1:12.844 41
3. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:13.105 31
4. Sam Bird Dams 1:13.395 46
5. Chris Van der Drift Trident Racing 1:13.468 48
6. Luca Filippi DPR 1:13.483 39
7. Fabio Onidi Piquet Sports 1:13.491 33
8. Jerome D'Ambrosio Barwa Campos Team 1:13.507 34
9. Michael Herck DPR 1:13.532 47
10. Diego Nunes ART Grand Prix 1:13.587 36
11. Oliver Turvey iSport International 1:13.621 35
12. Luiz Razia Racing Engineering 1:13.796 39
13. Narain Karthikeyan Trident Racing 1:13.862 44
14. Koudai Tsukakoshi Trust Team Arden 1:13.884 53
15. Nelson Philippe ART Grand Prix 1:13.900 38
16. Carlos Iaconelli Durango 1:13.940 40
17. Alberto Valerio Super Nova Racing 1:14.063 50
18. Ho-Pin Tung Barwa Campos Team 1:14.117 30
19. Markus Niemela Racing Engineering 1:14.118 51
20. Milos Pavlovic Piquet Sports 1:14.296 44
21. Dani Clos BCN Competicion 1:14.314 45
22. Mika Maki Trust Team Arden 1:14.449 39
23. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:14.827 40
24. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Super Nova Racing 1:15.076 54
25. Kevin Nai Chia Chen FMS International 1:31.236 1

Afternoon times

1. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:13.266 25
2. Jerome D'Ambrosio Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:13.618 22
3. Luca Filippi DPR 1:13.725 26
4. Chris Van der Drift Trident Racing 1:13.761 21
5. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:13.788 23
6. Diego Nunes ART Grand Prix 1:13.852 42
7. Koudai Tsukakoshi Trust Team Arden 1:14.035 23
8. Narain Karthikeyan Trident Racing 1:14.211 18
9. Fabio Onidi Piquet Sports 1:14.220 27
10. Michael Herck DPR 1:14.268 42
11. Ho-Pin Tung Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:14.355 25
12. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:14.363 24
13. Mika Maki Trust Team Arden 1:14.419 23
14. Luiz Razia Racing Engineering 1:14.426 40
15. Dani Clos BCN Competicion 1:14.472 23
16. Carlos Iaconelli Durango 1:14.567 18
17. Nelson Philippe ART Grand Prix 1:14.626 29
18. Fabrizio Crestani Fisichella Motor Sport Int 1:14.638 28
19. James Jakes Dams 1:14.681 39
20. Markus Niemela Racing Engineering 1:14.745 41
21. Alberto Valerio Super Nova Racing 1:14.830 30
22. Milos Pavlovic Piquet Sports 1:14.924 23
23. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Super Nova Racing 1:15.530 14
24. Oliver Turvey iSport International 1:16.126 11

Written: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:16:52