Photo: Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
GP2 Series title favourite James Calado finished this week?s opening pre-season test at Jerez on top with the quickest time on the third and final day on Thursday.
It was Calado?s fellow Englishman and series rookie Adrian Quaife-Hobbs who posted the best time of a morning session that began on a damp track.
DAMS duo Stephane Richelmi and Marcus Ericsson continued their strong performances this week with the second and third best times, while Quaife-Hobbs? teammate at series newcomers MP Motorsport ? Daniel De Jong ? was fourth.
Felipe Nasr took fifth for Carlin ahead of Trident trialist Robin Frijns. Rapax pair Simon Trummer and Stefano Coletti were next up with Nathanael Berthon (Trident) and Mitch Evans (Arden) completing the top ten.
ART man Calado set the best time of the day ? a 1m24.659s ? mid-way during the afternoon session. Swiss drivers Trummer and Fabio Leimer were closest, around four and five tenths of a second away respectively.
Coletti was fourth ahead of fellow Monegasque racer Richelmi, with Ericsson sixth. Jolyon Palmer took seventh spot for Carlin ahead of Evans, Julian Leal and Kevin Giovesi.
After Tom Dillmann put them top of the timesheets on the first two days, new team Hilmer Motorsport sat out the final day except for a single lap from the French driver. The second pre-season test takes place at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya next week, before the campaign begins for real in Malaysia on 23-24 March.
Morning session
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1. | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | MP Motorsport | 1:26.442 | 28 | |
| 2. | St?phane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:26.884 | 0.442 | 21 |
| 3. | Marcus Ericsson | DAMS | 1:26.904 | 0.462 | 22 |
| 4. | Daniel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:27.025 | 0.583 | 32 |
| 5. | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:27.121 | 0.679 | 17 |
| 6. | Robin Frijns | Trident Racing | 1:27.156 | 0.714 | 12 |
| 7. | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:27.208 | 0.766 | 24 |
| 8. | Stefano Coletti | Rapax | 1:27.239 | 0.797 | 6 |
| 9. | Nathana?l Berthon | Trident Racing | 1:27.514 | 1.072 | 10 |
| 10. | Mitch Evans | Arden International | 1:27.560 | 1.118 | 18 |
| 11. | Kevin Giovesi | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:27.846 | 1.404 | 16 |
| 12. | Jolyon Palmer | Carlin | 1:28.299 | 1.857 | 25 |
| 13. | Johnny Cecotto | Arden International | 1:28.379 | 1.937 | 21 |
| 14. | Jake Rosenzweig | Barwa Addax Team | 1:28.489 | 2.047 | 15 |
| 15. | Rene Binder | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:29.147 | 2.705 | 13 |
| 16. | Rio Haryanto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:29.303 | 2.861 | 23 |
| 17. | Sergio Canamasas | Caterham Racing | 1:29.303 | 2.861 | 23 |
| 18. | Ma Qing Hua | Caterham Racing | 1:30.372 | 3.930 | 23 |
| 19. | James Calado | ART Grand Prix | 1:48.064 | 21.622 | 12 |
| 20. | Daniel Abt | ART Grand Prix | 1:56.592 | 30.150 | 12 |
| 21. | Tom Dillmann | Hilmer Motorsport | 2:04.851 | 38.409 | 1 |
| 22. | Julian Leal | Racing Engineering | — | 6 | |
| 23. | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | — | 1 |
Afternoon session
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1. | James Calado | ART Grand Prix | 1:24.659 | 54 | |
| 2. | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:25.045 | 0.386 | 26 |
| 3. | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1:25.133 | 0.474 | 27 |
| 4. | Stefano Coletti | Rapax | 1:25.138 | 0.479 | 35 |
| 5. | St?phane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:25.148 | 0.489 | 38 |
| 6. | Marcus Ericsson | DAMS | 1:25.269 | 0.610 | 39 |
| 7. | Jolyon Palmer | Carlin | 1:25.276 | 0.617 | 38 |
| 8. | Mitch Evans | Arden International | 1:25.309 | 0.650 | 41 |
| 9. | Julian Leal | Racing Engineering | 1:25.318 | 0.659 | 44 |
| 10. | Kevin Giovesi | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:25.497 | 0.838 | 40 |
| 11. | Robin Frijns | Trident Racing | 1:25.572 | 0.913 | 23 |
| 12. | Daniel Abt | ART Grand Prix | 1:25.695 | 1.036 | 56 |
| 13. | Johnny Cecotto | Arden International | 1:25.829 | 1.170 | 37 |
| 14. | Sergio Canamasas | Caterham Racing | 1:25.833 | 1.174 | 47 |
| 15. | Rene Binder | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:25.862 | 1.203 | 17 |
| 16. | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:25.883 | 1.224 | 33 |
| 17. | Ma Qing Hua | Caterham Racing | 1:25.896 | 1.237 | 43 |
| 18. | Daniel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:25.959 | 1.300 | 31 |
| 19. | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | MP Motorsport | 1:26.031 | 1.372 | 39 |
| 20. | Nathana?l Berthon | Trident Racing | 1:26.049 | 1.390 | 21 |
| 21. | Jake Rosenzweig | Barwa Addax Team | 1:26.133 | 1.474 | 43 |
| 22. | Rio Haryanto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:26.767 | 0.386 | 38 |