Andreas Zuber again proved his second season in the GP2 Series was not a true indicator of his potential after once more topping the timesheets in the final official test session to be carried out in the current specification Dallara chassis.

Set to be transported to Dubai where it will be raced in the inaugural GP2 Asia Series next month, Zuber took the car to the top spot in both the morning and afternoon sessions having switiched to Super Nova International for the day.

Just missing out on the unofficial lap record around the 3D configuration of the Paul Ricard circuit, Zuber was comfortably faster than anyone else over the course of the day to end the European season in the position he had expected to be more regularly accustomed to.

It was a strong day for Super Nova all round as they welcomed back Luca Filippi – who is being touted for a seat at ART Grand Prix -, the Italian securing the third and the seventh fastest times over the course of the day for the British team.

Second in both sessions was Pastor Maldonado, the Venezuelan showing well for Minardi Piquet Sports after being forced to miss the end of what was a strong rookie season thanks to a biking injury.

New Formula 3 Euroseries Champion Romain Grosjean advertised himself to the top teams well by proving the best of the many 'rookie' drivers, the Frenchman seventh and third quickest in the morning and afternoon sessions for Racing Engineering.

Grosjean's impressive newcomer pace proved to be the exception rather than the rule though, with the generally faster afternoon session seeing only three of the debutants trouble the top ten positions.

Those were Yelmer Buurman, getting a chance to shine with front runners ART, and Davide Rigon, the little-known but promising Euroseries 3000 Champion proving quick for FMS International in ninth place.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Adrian Zaugg was a strong fourth for strugglers BCN, ahead of one of the likely 2008 title favourites - should he race - Kazuki Nakajima, while Spanish duo Borja Garcia and Adrian Valles were eighth and tenth best.

Outside the top ten, Chris van der Drift and Davide Valsecchi – graduates of Formula Master and World Series by Renault respectively – just missed the single figure positions in 12th and 14th for Trident and Durango, while Giedo van der Garde was another impressive figure over the course of the day, even breaking the lap record at one point… before it was realised that he had cut a corner, prompting two more fastest lap times to be deleted.

There is now a month before the current cars are back in action for the exciting Asian-based championship, and with several seats yet to be allocated, the teams are now likely to be scouring these results for the best partnerships…


Morning times – 02/11/07:

1. Andreas Zuber Super Nova International 1m 12.701s
2. Pastor Maldonado Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 12.860s
3. Luca Filippi Super Nova International 1m 12.879s
4. Kazuki Nakajima ART Grand Prix 1m 12.967s
5. Adrian Valles iSport International 1m 13.290s
6. Borja Garcia Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.323s
7. Romain Grosjean Racing Engineering 1m 13.382s
8. Yelmer Buurman ART Grand Prix 1m 13.455s
9. Giedo Van Der Garde DAMS 1m 13.489s
10. Davide Rigon FMS International 1m 13.559s
11. Ben Hanley DPR 1m 13.570s
12. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1m 13.660s
13. Vitaly Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1m 13.670s
14. Alberto Valerio Racing Engineering 1m 13.742s
15. Chris Van der Drift Trident Racing 1m 13.752s
16. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1m 13.811s
17. Adrian Zaugg BCN Competicion 1m 13.844s
18. Bruno Senna iSport International 1m 13.940s
19. Maro Engel FMS International 1m 13.978s
20. Adam Khan Arden International 1m 14.145s
21. Renger van der Zande Arden International 1m 14.184s
22. Alejandro Nunez BCN Competicion 1m 14.413s
23. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1m 14.422s
24. Ho-Pin Tung Campos Grand Prix 1m 15.127s
25. Fabrizio Crestani Durango 1m 15.340s
26. Nico Verdonck DPR 1m 15.984s


Afternoon times – 02/11/07:

1. Andreas Zuber Super Nova International 1m 12.584s
2. Pastor Maldonado Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 12.819s
3. Romain Grosjean Racing Engineering 1m 12.917s
4. Adrian Zaugg BCN Competicion 1m 12.950s
5. Kazuki Nakajima ART Grand Prix 1m 12.959s
6. Yelmer Buurman ART Grand Prix 1m 13.094s
7. Luca Filippi Super Nova International 1m 13.109s
8. Borja Garcia Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.325s
9. Davide Rigon FMS International 1m 13.338s
10. Adrian Valles iSport International 1m 13.385s
11. Vitaly Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1m 13.411s
12. Chris Van der Drift Trident Racing 1m 13.451s
13. Bruno Senna iSport International 1m 13.517s
14. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1m 13.533s
15. Oliver Jarvis DPR 1m 13.615s
16. Renger van der Zande Arden International 1m 13.735s
17. Alberto Valerio Racing Engineering 1m 13.757s
18. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1m 13.887s
19. Ho-Pin Tung Campos Grand Prix 1m 13.931s
20. Alejandro Nunez BCN Competicion 1m 13.968s
21. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1m 13.976s
22. Giedo Van Der Garde DAMS 1m 14.081B>
23. Ben Hanley DPR 1m 14.205s
24. Adam Khan Arden International 1m 14.347s
25. Tengyi Jiang FMS International 1m 16.185s