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JAMES CALADO FINISHES ON TOP IN JEREZ

ART Grand Prix driver ends final pre-season test day at the top of the timesheets

James Calado concluded his week’s work in the best possible way. Lasts season’s best rookie was quickest today at Circuito de Jerez with a laptime of 1:24.659 set this afternoon. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs set the best laptime in the morning for newcomers MP Motorsport.

The final day of GP2 Series testing in Jerez started in a different setting as overnight rain dampened the circuit. When the pitlane opened, most drivers opted to feed to the track on wet weather tyres. The sun was quick to make a welcome appearance though. Johnny Cecotto set the early pace, but as the track dried up and drivers switched to hard or medium compounds, the laptimes improved slowly. It was a trouble free session bar a short red flag, courtesy of Cecotto who stopped on track. Stéphane Richelmi was the first man to dip under 1m28s, but his teammate Marcus Ericsson claimed the top spot as the session entered into its final hour.

In the closing minutes, the proceedings were briefly halted after Jolyon Palmer stopped his Carlin car on track. At the restart, Quaife-Hobbs snatched the top spot from Ericsson. Richelmi also improved on his teammate’s best laptime to finish P2. Behind the DAMS duo, the top ten was completed by Daniel de Jong, Felipe Nasr, Robin Frijns, Simon Trummer, Stefano Coletti, Nathanaël Berthon and Mitch Evans.

After a short one hour lunch break, everyone took advantage of a dry track to do more race simulations and pit stop practices. The session ran smoothly with James Calado taking control of the timesheets towards mid-session, breaking the 1m25s barrier. His laptime of 1:24.659 was enough to have him sit pretty on top until the chequered flag. Behind the Brit, Trummer, Fabio Leimer, Coletti, Richelmi, Ericsson, Palmer, Evans, Julian Leal and Kevin Giovesi completed the top ten. The session was briefly red flagged with ten minutes left on the clock as Evans stopped on the track.

The teams will now make their way to Barcelona and set up camp at Circuit de Catalunya where the second and final pre-season test session will take place next week on March 5th, 6th and 7th.

Morning results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

MP Motorsport

1:26.442

28

2.

Stéphane Richelmi

DAMS

1:26.884

21

3.

Marcus Ericsson

DAMS

1:26.904

22

4.

Daniel De Jong

MP Motorsport

1:27.025

32

5.

Felipe Nasr

Carlin

1:27.121

17

6.

Robin Frijns

Trident Racing

1:27.156

12

7.

Simon Trummer

Rapax

1:27.208

24

8.

Stefano Coletti

Rapax

1:27.239

6

9.

Nathanaël Berthon

Trident Racing

1:27.514

10

10.

Mitch Evans

Arden International

1:27.560

18

11.

Kevin Giovesi

Venezuela GP Lazarus

1:27.846

16

12.

Jolyon Palmer

Carlin

1:28.299

25

13.

Johnny Cecotto

Arden International

1:28.379

21

14.

Jake Rosenzweig

Barwa Addax Team

1:28.489

15

15.

Rene Binder

Venezuela GP Lazarus

1:29.147

13

16.

Rio Haryanto

Barwa Addax Team

1:29.303

23

17.

Sergio Canamasas

Caterham Racing

1:29.303

23

18.

Ma Qing Hua

Caterham Racing

1:30.372

23

19.

James Calado

ART Grand Prix

1:48.064

12

20.

Daniel Abt

ART Grand Prix

1:56.592

12

21.

Tom Dillmann

Hilmer Motorsport

2:04.851

1

22.

Julian Leal

Racing Engineering

6

23.

Fabio Leimer

Racing Engineering

1

Afternoon results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

James Calado

ART Grand Prix

1:24.659

54

2.

Simon Trummer

Rapax

1:25.045

26

3.

Fabio Leimer

Racing Engineering

1:25.133

27

4.

Stefano Coletti

Rapax

1:25.138

35

5.

Stéphane Richelmi

DAMS

1:25.148

38

6.

Marcus Ericsson

DAMS

1:25.269

39

7.

Jolyon Palmer

Carlin

1:25.276

38

8.

Mitch Evans

Arden International

1:25.309

41

9.

Julian Leal

Racing Engineering

1:25.318

44

10.

Kevin Giovesi

Venezuela GP Lazarus

1:25.497

40

11.

Robin Frijns

Trident Racing

1:25.572

23

12.

Daniel Abt

ART Grand Prix

1:25.695

56

13.

Johnny Cecotto

Arden International

1:25.829

37

14.

Sergio Canamasas

Caterham Racing

1:25.833

47

15.

Rene Binder

Venezuela GP Lazarus

1:25.862

17

16.

Felipe Nasr

Carlin

1:25.883

33

17.

Ma Qing Hua

Caterham Racing

1:25.896

43

18.

Daniel De Jong

MP Motorsport`

1:25.959

31

19.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

MP Motorsport

1:26.031

39

20.

Nathanaël Berthon

Trident Racing

1:26.049

21

21.

Jake Rosenzweig

Barwa Addax Team

1:26.133

43

22.

Rio Haryanto

Barwa Addax Team

1:26.767

38