Frenchman Alesi fastest in free practice

[caption id="attachment_7881" align="alignleft" width="300"] File photo of Jehan Daruvala; INDIAinF1[/caption]

Abu Dhabi, 23 Nov 2018: Indian star Jehan Daruvala, touted as the best bet for the future of Indian racing, made an impressive debut showing the pace straight away in Free Practice 1. He was just 0.2 seconds off the pace of two drivers ahead of him as he finished fourth fastest on Friday.

Meanwhile, Giuliano Alesi has set the pace for the final round of the 2018 GP3 Series by grabbing the top spot in this morning’s free practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit with a time of 1:55.676, going purple in all 3 sectors late in the session for a lap which was 0.892s faster than teammate David Beckmann and Gabriel Aubry, who both set the same best time earlier in the day.

The session opened to the expected blue skies and building heat so familiar to everyone at the circuit, with most of the runners heading out when the lights went green but ART and Trident holding fire for a while: Beckmann was the last driver on track at the 15 minute mark just as ART annexed the top 3, with series leader Anthoine Hubert leading the way ahead of Callum Ilott and Nikita Mazepin.

Hubert went quicker still next time round, laying down a marker for his title intentions, while Beckmann slotted in a tenth behind him to show that his late season form was continuing. With most of the field having a wealth of experience at the circuit there was little in the way of off-track activity, although Alesi briefly slowed half an hour in before getting underway once more.

Leonardo Pulcini was also determined to show that his recent good form reflected his true ability by setting the pace with 15 minutes remaining, setting a new target for his rivals. Hubert improved but not by enough, while Mazepin ran well wide before regaining the track at the Viceroy section. All eyes were on Aubry as he was setting purple sectors, but just ahead of him Beckman claimed the top spot with a concise and flowing lap, while the Frenchman ran wide at the final corner to match the German’s time to the thousandth, with rookie Jehan Daruvala slotting just 0.02 behind the pair.

With 2 minutes remaining Alesi struck, setting the pace in every sector to bring home a lap that smashed his rivals dreams: Beckmann improved on the first sector but was well off in the second, and the session was done. Behind the top 4 Joey Mawson was the only other driver within a second of Alesi, finishing ahead of Sacha Fenestraz, Pulcini, Hubert, Richard Verschoor, Ryan Tveter, Jake Hughes and Mazepin as they returned to the paddock to plan their qualifying strategies.

Free Practice Times

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:55.676

18

2

David Beckmann

Trident

1:56.568

12

3

Gabriel Aubry

Arden International

1:56.568

18

4

Jehan Daruvala

MP Motorsport

1:56.589

20

5

Joey Mawson

Arden International

1:56.655

17

6

Sacha Fenestraz

Arden International

1:57.053

18

7

Leonardo Pulcini

Campos Racing

1:57.116

16

8

Anthoine Hubert

ART Grand Prix

1:57.170

16

9

Devlin DeFrancesco

MP Motorsport

1:57.170

18

10

Richard Verschoor

MP Motorsport

1:57.259

18

11

Ryan Tveter

Trident

1:57.277

15

12

Jake Hughes

ART Grand Prix

1:57.311

17

13

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:57.393

16

14

Juan-Manuel Correa

Jenzer Motorsport

1:57.453

17

15

Diego Menchaca

Campos Racing

1:57.579

18

16

Simo Laaksonen

Campos Racing

1:57.588

17

17

Pedro Piquet

Trident

1:57.727

15

18

Tatiana Calderon

Jenzer Motorsport

1:57.826

18

19

Callum Ilott

ART Grand Prix

1:57.847

16

20

Jannes Fittje

Jenzer Motorsport

1:58.579

17