Daly impressive top 10 in Barcelona testing

Noblesville, IN -- American Conor Daly impressed the GP2 paddock this afternoon in Barcelona with a three hour afternoon session of laps that put him into the top 10 fastest.

Daly shared a car for the final day with Italian, Riccardo Agostini. It was his first dry session in a GP2 car after heavy rain blighted the first two days of testing.

Conor Daly

Photo by: GP2 Media Service

"This afternoon was crazy. I had just three hours to learn the dry line and the car's ability at full tilt. The car was amazing on the soft tires at the end.

The soft tires are good for just one lap and as has happened so many times, I got caught in traffic at the hairpin and lost half a second," said Daly.

"Not to worry; this week has been amazing for me as it was totally unexpected. The team did a great job helping me understand what GP2 cars can do."

Daly tested for a new German team, Hilmer Motorsport. "Conor was fantastic. For a rookie who had never driven a GP2 car before to be in the top ten in the rain and dry was impressive.

We did a lot with him and he had to share the car on the last day which was not ideal, but he did a great job," said team owner, Franz Hilman.

Daly will be back in Barcelona next week for the second round of GP3 winter testing.

Hilmer Motorsport is a new team to the GP2 Series having recently purchased the assets of Ocean Technology.

The team is owned and operated by Franz Hilmer who also owns Formtech GmbH - a supplier for several Formula One teams. In the recent series test in Jerez, they topped the time sheets on both days.

Conor Daly