The final day of GP3 pre-season testing at Silverstone would see Lewis Williamson reach the top spot, only for his time to be smashed in the afternoon by Michael Christensen.
Admittedly, the drab conditions were hardly ideal for the morning, with a large chunk of the running on wet tyres.
Indeed, conditions were perilous enough to see several red flags appear throughout the session. However as the looming grey clouds dispersed, circuit conditions improved greatly; so much so that slick tyres were fitted in the run up to lunch.
With the seconds ticking away, Williamson in his MW Arden Dallara, swapped the top spot with Addax pilot Gabby Chaves, while Christensen (RS Mücke) trailed the pair. Eventually Williamson did take the head with a best of 1:52.963.
Mitch Evans also set a solid pace in the dying moments. The Kiwi completed 32 laps, although his best fell 0.618 short of Williamson. It was enough to give the MW Arden driver a three-tenths advantage over Conor Daly (Carlin).
Nigel Melker took 6th for RSC Mücke ahead of the final MW Arden driver, Simon Trummer. Marussia Manor Racing pair Matias Laine and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs secured 8th and 10th respectively, squeezing Carlin pilot Tom Dillmann.
The afternoon proved to be a big improvement, weather-wise, although gusty winds still played a factor for those on circuit. Come the evening flag, it was Michael Christensen that took the biggest advantage, both in terms of speed and distance. The Dane completed 47 laps of the Arena circuit, notching up a best of 1:51.799.
Next up were Alexander Sims (Status GP) and Nico Muller (Jenzer Motorsport) – both ran up distances at the 41 lap mark, falling just over one-tenth shy of the pace setter.
Mitch Evans took 4th spot for the second time, just ahead of Rio Haryanto (5th, Marussia Manor Racing) and morning quick man Lewis Williamson (6th), while Simon Trummer settled for 7th following his 43 lap run.
Tech 1 Racing pairing Tamas P’al Kiss and Andrea Caldarelli took 8th and 9th respectively. Antonio Felix da Costa rounded up the top ten for Status GP.
The final day saw plenty of running from the field, averaging the 60 lap mark, despite the poor morning conditions, although a great deal of that was made in the afternoon.
Also encouraging is the closeness of the field in these tests. Although we have little insight as to the exact settings that each driver or team are running, it is still impressive that the top-ten are split by less than half-a-second.
Final pre-season tests for the GP3 series take place in Barcelona from April 12th-14, after which the Championship heads to Istanbul for the first of eight rounds.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m52.963s 2. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m53.073s + 0.110s 3. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m53.176s + 0.213s 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m53.581s + 0.618s 5. Conor Daly Carlin 1m53.934s + 0.971s 6. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m53.943s + 0.980s 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m54.023s + 1.060s 8. Matias Laine Manor 1m54.119s + 1.156s 9. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m54.392s + 1.429s 10. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m54.659s + 1.696s 11. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m54.801s + 1.838s 12. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m54.922s + 1.959s 13. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m55.070s + 2.107s 14. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m55.074s + 2.111s 15. James Calado ART 1m55.149s + 2.186s 16. Alexander Sims Status 1m55.385s + 2.422s 17. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m55.406s + 2.443s 18. Simon Moss Addax 1m55.913s + 2.950s 19. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m55.948s + 2.985s 20. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m55.979s + 3.016s 21. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m56.056s + 3.093s 22. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m56.166s + 3.203s 23. Pedro Nunes ART 1m56.275s + 3.312s 24. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 1m56.352s + 3.389s 25. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m56.399s + 3.436s 26. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m56.654s + 3.691s 27. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m56.832s + 3.869s 28. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m57.132s + 4.169s 29. Thomas Hylkema Addax 2m13.738s + 20.775s 30. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 2m14.291s + 21.328s Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m51.799s 2. Alexander Sims Status 1m51.868s + 0.069s 3. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m51.967s + 0.168s 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m51.973s + 0.174s 5. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m52.018s + 0.219s 6. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m52.063s + 0.264s 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m52.077s + 0.278s 8. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m52.147s + 0.348s 9. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 1m52.176s + 0.377s 10. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m52.219s + 0.420s 11. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m52.249s + 0.450s 12. Matias Laine Manor 1m52.413s + 0.614s 13. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m52.484s + 0.685s 14. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m52.539s + 0.740s 15. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m52.597s + 0.798s 16. James Calado ART 1m52.608s + 0.809s 17. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m52.816s + 1.017s 18. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m52.821s + 1.022s 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m52.955s + 1.156s 20. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m52.969s + 1.170s 21. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m52.980s + 1.181s 22. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m53.053s + 1.254s 23. Conor Daly Carlin 1m53.153s + 1.354s 24. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m53.227s + 1.428s 25. Pedro Nunes ART 1m53.750s + 1.951s 26. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m53.850s + 2.051s 27. Simon Moss Addax 1m54.223s + 2.424s 28. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1m54.330s + 2.531s
