25/02/2010
NEWS STORY
iSport's Italian ace, Davide Valsecchi, set the fastest time in this morning's free practice session at Sakhir with a 1:44.852, but Jules Bianchi (ART) and teammate Oliver Turvey were only two-hundredths behind.
The trouble-free session opened on a dirty track and on the traditional layout. In the opening stages, Alvaro Parente, Javier Villa, Michael Herck and Sergio Perez successively claim the top spot until ART duo Bianchi and Sam Bird joined in the fight, closely followed by Giacomo Ricci, Christian Vietoris and Charles Pic.
A few seconds after Bianchi clocked the best time, Valsecchi showed his true colours and set up camp at the top of the timing sheets with nobody threatening him for the remainder of the session. At mid-point, as most of the field returned to the pits, Turvey moved up to third, a spot later claimed by Luca Filippi, but the British driver fought back minutes later to better his time and recover third place.
The twenty-four contestants will now try to find the perfect strategy for this afternoon's qualifying session, and possibly upset Valsecchi, who up until now has dominated the third season.