Formula Two debutant Dean Smith has set a searing benchmark pace in the final 20 minutes of the opening test session in Portimão, Portugal this morning (Friday).
The recently crowned McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner ran in the top five throughout the session, but he further improved with a 1:35.137s lap time on his final run. "It was a good session," said Smith. "There is a lot of power in this car - I have been changing the set-up to find out what the car likes and how it fits with my driving style. I always like to get the best out of new tyres and I think I did then with that lap. It went really well and I will try to do it all again this afternoon."
Dean Smith was second in the final session and second overall, although his fastest time of the day was set during the morning running. Benjamin Bailly was the last driver to pass the chequered flag under the evening sunset, and his fantastic final lap promoted the promising Belgian to third.
Vasiliauskas was already parked up in his garage by this point, confident that his 1:35.437s lap time could not be matched: "It was a really good day," said the Lithuanian. "I was running down in seventh during the morning but I used that time as an opportunity to try some different things with the set-up of the car. I was then able to go fastest in the first afternoon session, and then of course during the final session with the overboost facility so I am happy.
"After a year in Formula Two these are the kind of results I would expect however, as I am confident of consistently running at the front. The track is fantastic - it is different to anything that I have driven before. It has many challenges but I really enjoyed it."
Danish driver Johan Jokinen had led for much of the final session, but he eventually dropped to fourth after using his last set of fresh tyres earlier than the majority of his rivals. Spaniard Ramón Piñeiro ended the day in fifth overall - the 18-year-old having set his quickest lap time during the opening hour of the morning session.
Russian racer Ivan Samarin had a fantastic final hour as the 21-year-old improved dramatically to take sixth ahead of Alex Brundle and Duncan Tappy. José Alonso Liste made progress throughout the day and a late flying lap promoted the Spaniard to ninth, whilst 18-year-old Jolyon Palmer rounded out the top ten.
Jack Clarke and Benjamin Lariche were separated by just 0.005s in 11th and 12th respectively. Reigning Formula Renault 2.0 Suisse Champion Nico Müller was unable to improve his time from this morning and he ended up 13th, ahead of Ricardo Teixeira. The Angolan driver made steady progress during his second run in an F2 car, with his final session time being his best of the day.
Andy Soucek set the ultimate pace during the day but as the F2 Champion is currently testing upgrades for the 2010 car he has been omitted from the times.
The final day of the Formula Two winter testing programme gets underway at 9:30am tomorrow and the official F2 website will keep you updated with results and news throughout the day.
Formula Two - Portimão, Portugal - Day One test results (11 December):
1. Kazim Vasiliauskas, 1:35.437s
2. Dean Smith, 1:35.660s
3. Benjamin Bailly, 1:36.142s
4. Johan Jokinen, 1:36.155s
5. Ramon Pineiro, 1:36.305s
6. Ivan Samarin, 1:36.315s
7. Alex Brundle, 1:36.428s
8. Duncan Tappy, 1:36.522s
9. Jose Alonso Liste, 1:36.658s
10. Jolyon Palmer, 1:36.704s
11. Jack Clarke, 1:36.809s
12. Benjamin Lariche, 1:36.814s
13. Nico Muller, 1:36.927s
14. Ricardo Teixeira, 1:37.252s
15. Kelvin Snoeks, 1:37.374s
16. Paul Rees, 1:38.287s
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