Tom Dillmann tops Day 1 in Jerez

Hilmer Motorsport driver quickest on first day of GP2 Series pre-season test in Spain

It was a perfect way for newcomers Hilmer Motorsport to start their GP2 career: on the opening day of the first pre-season test session, the German squad put Tom Dillmann at the top of the timesheets. The Frenchman who was testing for Hilmer today set a laptime of 1:25.059 in the final minutes of the afternoon session.

The day started under blue skies but in cold temperatures. As soon as the pitlane opened, the cars fed to the track but once their installation lap was done, the drivers opted to stay safely tucked away in their garages waiting for the temperatures to rise.

Rene Binder at Lazarus was the first man to set a laptime and as the track warmed up, more drivers ventured back on the circuit. A first red flag briefly halted the proceedings, courtesy of returnee Pal Varhaug at Hilmer who spun and stopped on track. At the restart, Dillmann went top, but his laptime was almost immediately bettered by Johnny Cecotto at Arden. As we entered the final hour of the morning session, Marcus Ericsson put his DAMS car at the top of the timesheets before Sergio Canamasas went off track at Turn 2 and saw his Caterham machine end in the tyre barrier, prompting another red flag. When the session went live again, Jolyon Palmer found some extra pace and nipped to the top spot, 0.09s quicker than Ericsson. There was one final interruption with three minutes left on the clock as Mitch Evans stopped his Arden car at Turn 13 following electrical issues which effectively put an end to everyone’s session. Palmer finished top ahead of Ericsson, Rene Binder, Cecotto, Stéphane Richelmi, Jake Rosenzweig, James Calado, Dillmann, Simon Trummer and Felipe Nasr.

The pitlane reopened after a two-hour lunch break, and Fabio Leimer set the early pace at the wheel of his Racing Engineering car. While the drivers mainly focused on covering race distance, Richelmi led the timesheet, but Calado improved and edged the Monegasque driver from the top spot. Just as Leimer reclaimed P1, Daniel De Jong stopped on track at Turn 7 causing a quick red flag. At the restart, Leimer was still sitting pretty at the top of the timesheet with Binder and Nasr in tow. With just twenty minutes left on the clock, Dillmann put his head down and claimed P1 ahead of Leimer, Nasr, Calado, Binder, Ericsson, De Jong, Richelmi, Robin Frijns and Cecotto.

Tomorrow’s session will start at 9am local time.

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