09/07/2010
NEWS STORY
Esteban Gutierrez continued his top form today claiming the number one spot in an eventful free practice session at Silverstone Circuit and denying James Jakes at his home track.
The Mexican set his best time of 1:53.547 in the dying minutes of the session, which up until that point had been an all-British affair. Four of the top five positions were filled by British drivers with Adrian Quaife-Hobbs the early pace setter in warm conditions in Northamptonshire. The Manor driver topped the times for two thirds of the session before teammate Jakes put in a flyer. Carlin's Dean Smith eventually knocked Quaife-Hobbs down one more spot into fourth ahead of Atech CRS GP's Oliver Oakes in fifth before the chequered flag dropped.
The session was one of the most eventful this season as the thirty young drivers got to grips with the new Silverstone Circuit layout - at one stage almost a third of the grid followed each other off the track at turn one. The drivers eventually found their rhythm in the second half of the session but no-one was able to challenge for the top spot.
Mucke Motorsport's Nigel Nigel Melker followed Gutierrez and the British drivers across the line taking sixth spot ahead of teammate Renger van der Zande. Valencia race winner Nico Müller posted the eighth quickest time. Rounding out the top ten was Atech CRS GP's Roberto Merhi and Status GP's Daniel Morad.