Petrov leads Qatar night practice

Vitaly Petrov was fastest in GP2's first ever night practice session in Qatar.

The GP2 Asia Series will hold its first night race at the Losail track this weekend, with qualifying taking place later this evening.

In addition to the unusual experience of running under floodlights, the field also had to cope with a track surface made extremely slippery by sandstorms during the preceding 24 hours.

Campos driver Petrov moved to the head of the field in the closing minutes of the session, lapping 0.2 seconds faster than Meritus driver Marco Bonanomi.

Davide Valsecchi was third for Durango, ahead of Michael Herck (DPR), who had been a surprise pace-setter until the final stages. Giedo van der Garde completed the top five in his iSport car.

Championship leader Kamui Kobayashi was only 15th, while Alvaro Parente took 18th on his return to GP2 with Meritus.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:38.812 2. Marco Bonanomi My Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:39.012 + 0.200 3. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:39.281 + 0.469 4. Michael Herck DPR 1:39.514 + 0.702 5. Giedo van der Garde GFH Team iSport 1:39.588 + 0.776 6. Sergio Perez Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:39.684 + 0.872 7. Yelmer Buurman Ocean Racing Technology 1:39.721 + 0.909 8. Sakon Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:39.859 + 1.047 9. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:40.074 + 1.262 10. Diego Nunes Piquet GP 1:40.127 + 1.315 11. James Jakes Super Nova Racing 1:40.452 + 1.640 12. Hamad Al Fardan GFH Team iSport 1:40.468 + 1.656 13. Fabrizio Crestani Ocean Racing Technology 1:40.487 + 1.675 14. Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:40.572 + 1.760 15. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:40.649 + 1.837 16. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:40.677 + 1.865 17. Edoardo Mortara Arden Int. Motorsport 1:40.774 + 1.962 18. Alvaro Parente My Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:40.873 + 2.061 19. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:40.897 + 2.085 20 Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:41.085 + 2.273 21. Luiz Razia Arden Int. Motorsport 1:41.110 + 2.298 22. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:41.382 + 2.570 23. Frankie Provenzano Trident Racing 1:41.830 + 3.018 24. Rodolfo Gonzalez Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:42.052 + 3.240 25. Michael Dalle Stelle Durango 1:46.949 + 8.137 26 Kevin Nai Chia Chen Fisichella Motor Sport Int.

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