Kevin Mirocha ends Valencia test on top
German finishes fastest ahead of Jolyon Palmer and Dan Clarke
Germany’s Kevin Mirocha set the fastest time of the afternoon as the final day of testing in Valencia drew to a close, the 18-year-old finishing ahead of the British pairing of Jolyon Palmer and Dan Clarke.
Mirocha, who only joined the test for the day, could only manage tenth in the morning session but improved throughout the day to finish fastest with a superb lap of 1:26.633.
Mirocha’s effort deprived Jolyon Palmer of the top spot, but the Briton rounded off an impressive two days by setting the second fastest time, having finished inside the top three in every session in Spain.
Ex-A1GP driver Dan Clarke finished with the third fastest time, less than two hundredths of a second slower than Palmer’s benchmark. It capped an impressive day for the 26-year-old, who had gone fastest in the morning and been running second for much of the afternoon.
Johan Jokinen – who has topped the timesheets for much of the test – could only manage fourth as the conditions and track cooled in the afternoon. It nevertheless ends a highly successful test for the young Dane, who spent the season competing for the Kolles and Heinz Euro F3 team.
Benjamin Lariche improved by more than half a second in the final session to set the sixth fastest time. Impressively all top six finishers went quicker than Robert Wickens pole time of 1:27.488, which he set during the opening round of the 2009 season.
Belgium’s Benjamin Bailly set the seventh fastest time of the day after an impressive run early on in the session. Ricardo Teixeira rounded out the top eight, finishing less than two hundredths of a second faster than Formula Palmer Audi pilot David Rotar in ninth. Jordan King was tenth, the 15-year-old recovering from a spin at Curva 3 to finish ahead of FPA Champion Richard Plant and Poland’s Natalia Kowalska.
Jack Clarke was the only other spinner of the day at the tricky Curva 12, although the Briton was able to continue without suffering any damage to his car.
Official Formula Two Test, Valencia, Day Two (4 December):
1. Kevin Mirocha, 1:26.633s
2. Jolyon Palmer, 1:27.128
3. Dan Clarke, 1:27.183
4. Johan Jokinen, 1:27.226
5. Jack Clarke, 1:27.272
6. Benjamin Lariche, 1:27.316
7. Benjamin Bailly, 1:27.739
8. Ricardo Teixeira, 1:27.991
9. David Rotar, 1:28.007
10. Jordan King, 1:28.470
11. Richard Plant, 1:28.836
12. Natalia Kowalska, 1:29.868 www.formulatwo.com