Adrien Simon has topped the final day of pre-season testing as no fewer than five teams ran on the super soft tyres, compared to just one per over the rest of the test. The Frenchman is coming off the back of a difficult season in which he was comprehensively beaten by Enrique Ruiz, and Mathershaw Porsche have made several noises over the winter about not expecting to be competitive this season, so todays result is sure to give both driver and team confidence ahead of Japan. Over two tenths back was Downton's Klaas van Snelheid, the Dutchman also running the super softs but unable to break the 73-second barrier, leaving the team somewhat scratching their heads. Phoenix were doing likewise but for completely different reasons after reserve driver Dominic Hanson - now thrust into the frame as a potential replacement for Thierry Xylander at the opening race in Japan - set the third fastest time, less than two tenths behind van Snelheid. Hanson was however reportedly taken unwell after the test having exclaimed, "I've never gone that fast." Felix Perez gave FIRST more reason to smile with the fourth fastest time - albeit on the soft compound - less than eight tenths behind the fastest time and only half a second back from the Downton team, with the tyre delta between soft and super softs expected to be between six and eight tenths of a second. Behind the Mexican, Marcus Thunder completed the top five for Lucas, ending the purple outfits running on the super soft tyre and setting a time a whole second quicker than the next best super soft time - AMR's Dmytro Kovalenko, who could only manage tenth fastest - despite being slower than the Australian team yesterday on the same compound. Tumo Kinnumen completed Westwood's running on the soft tyre in sixth, with Diego Campos showing some of Highwind's pace on the final day just half a tenth behind. Hunter Ryan ended the day eighth fastest on the mediums for Ocelot, while fellow Australian Nick Addison was ninth on the hards, just 1.8 seconds off the top time. Outside of the top ten, all teams ran on either the medium or hard tyres. Johan Halvosen was the best of these on the white striped compound, three tenths back from Ocelot but three tenths up on Lopez - whose yo-yo test continued as Elroy Wagner got behind the wheel for the first time. Urmo Kruuda split the two in his Ingram on the hard tyres - half a second behind Franklin's Addison on the same compound - and four tenths up on fellow Jaguar-powered runner Yakumi Takahashi in the Arrow. Meanwhile having been second on day one, Giani Ledesma ended the test propping up the time sheet for Meteor, three tenths back from Takahashi.
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