As it happened: Barcelona first practice
Minute by minute commentary from the first free practice session in Barcelona
Robert Wickens topped the timesheets in the first free practice
session at Barcelona. Andy Soucek finished fractions behind in
second, with Nicola De Marco finishing a strong third after running
well throughout the session. You can read live text
updates from the session below:
16.30 - So ends the first practice session at
Barcelona. There's still a lot to be decided, but if the opening
session was any sort of guide, Wickens could take a lot of stopping
this weekend. Behind him, the battle for third in the championship
could be incredibly tight, as there's not much to separate the
major contenders.
16.27 - Updates on the battle for second and
third: Robert Wickens looks to be in ominous form, whilst Jousse,
Eng, Kazim, Aleshin and Pavlovic all ran well. Bortolotti has a bit
of catching up to do, and the Italian's lack of circuit experience
told with his 12th position. Hegewald will be disappointed too
after finishing 14th.
16.25 - The chequered flag comes out, and the
session belongs to Robert Wickens. Soucek is only fractions
behind.
16.23 - De Marco still running well in fourth,
but it's a sizeable gap between the Italian and Soucek in
second.
16.21 - Wickens responds, bettering Soucek by
about five hundredths of a second. Wickens is absolutely focussed
on the 'Spanish sweep' as he calls it - he won both races in
Valencia, and is looking for a repeat performance here.
16.20 - Hancock has a brief moment in turn
five, but is able to rejoin. He's pushing hard, but currently finds
himself in 22nd position.
16.18 - Soucek takes his turn to prove me
wrong, the Spaniard setting a mightily impressive 1:39.624s. That's
over half a second quicker than anyone else, and he looks to be in
imperious form at his home race.
16.17 - Still no improvement on Robert Wickens'
lap, with only Steven Kane lapping in sub 1:40s. Nicola De Marco
goes fourth fastest.
16.15 - Jason Moore's performance is also
worthy of mention. The Briton has been one of the most improved
drivers in the last couple of rounds, and has just backed up
another solid run in testing by setting the eighth fastest
time.
16.13 - Milos Pavlovic weighs in with the fifth
fastest time - fourth if you discount Kane. The Serbian is
determined to pick up his first win of the season at Barcelona, and
he certainly looks like a contender so far.
16.11 - And there you go, the commentator's
curse strikes at Vautier spins at turn four. After a moment of
confusion he performs a neat 180 and is back on his way.
16.10 - Tristan Vautier has picked up where he
left off in the test - the Frenchman currently lies tenth on his
competitive F2 debut.
16.07 - The astute of you out there may notice
Steven Kane is currently heading the timesheets. F2's official test
driver is currently sampling the latest upgrades to the car, which
has been in constant development throughout the season.
16.05 - And we have times on the board. Robert
Wickens currently holds the top spot, and it's a Red Bull 1-2-3,
Bortolotti and Aleshin close behind. Kazim spins through turn three
but returns almost immediately with a minimum of drama.
16.03 - An early obstacle for Clarke and
Karjalainen to navigate in the form of Jens Hoing, who is on his
outlap with cold tyres. Both drivers find their way past the
German, but they've lost time in critical corners as a result.
16.01 - Gachnang's car is safely back, and the
green light comes out once more. Jack Clarke leads a queue of cars
out from the pitlane.
16.00 - A bit of information during the lull in
on-track action: the temperature outside is 24 degrees, whilst the
track temperature is a slightly cooler 22. Humidity is at 60% - not
bad for the end of October!
15.58 - The clock is counting down, but the
news from the race stewards is that the time will be added to the
end of the session.
15.54 - Looks like there's a risk of oil
leaking from Gachnang's car, so the low-loader arrives to pick her
up and escort her back to the pits. Certainly not the start she
would have wanted.
15.52 - Early trouble for Natacha Gachnang,
whose car is laid up on the side of track through turn nine. The
plucky Swiss pilot clambers out of her car, and the red flags come
out...
15.50 - The lights go green and the cars snake
out of the pitlane. The circuit is relatively long at 4.7km, and
poses some real problems for the drivers. Accordingly they're
taking it fairly easy on the outlap, and making sure their tyres
are warm before really pushing.
15.49 - A bit of news on this weekend then.
Tristan Vautier will make his F2 debut in place of the absent
Edoardo Piscopo, while Carlos Iaconelli will unfortunately be
absent all weekend due to illness.
15.45 - Welcome to a sun soaked Barcelona,
where the excellent Circuit de Catalunya will host the final two
rounds of the 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship. First practice is
all set to start in five minutes - a chance for drivers to set down
an early marker for the weekend.