MW Arden’s Mitch Evans claimed the top spot as GP3 pre-season testing resumed at the Circuit de Catalunya yesterday.
The 19-year-old made the best of the cool morning conditions to register a time of 1:38.609 – giving the Kiwi a one-tenth advantage over Marussia-Manor’s Tio Ellinas.
It was not all gold for Evans – the Kiwi spun early in the afternoon session, beaching his Dallara-Renault in the gravel trap.
Evans’ off ensured he would only compete 38 laps – well shy of the day’s mileage peak. That honour went to Antonio Spavone, who completed an impressive 77 laps in his Trident Racing machine.
Antonio Felix da Costa and Alex Brundle (both Carlin) were the only other pilots to break the 200-mile barrier by the end of the day, with 72 and 71 circulations respectively.
Lotus GP’s Daniel Abt assumed 3rd at the chequered flag. The German national ran fastest as the afternoon session came to a close, ending a sensible day for the former-German Formula 3 racer.
MW Arden pairing David Fumanelli (4th) and Matias Laine (5th) ran just under half-a-second slower than teammate Evans, while also pipping up-and-coming Hungarian racer, Tamas Pa’l Kiss (Atech CRS, 6th).
Carlin’s British Formula 3 competitor, Carlos Sainz Jr, found himself at the wheel of Lotus GP’s third machine today*, stitching together 60 laps in a solid display of speed and consistency.
The 17-year-old Red Bull junior driver logged his best (1:39.087) in the afternoon running, ensuring the Spaniard enjoyed a small advantage over Kevin Ceccon (Trident, 8th, 67 laps), da Costa (9th) and Tom Blomqvist (Status GP, 10th, 48 laps).
There were red flags aplenty in the morning when Robert Cregan (Ocean Racing Technology), Blomqvist and Fabiano Machado (Marussia-Manor) all suffered separate offs. The afternoon session was closed prematurely, as Ceccon spun with mere minutes left on the clock.
* {note 1}
Of course, it means absolutely nothing, but it does occasionally make me smile to see such crossovers in the feeder categories.
That the son of WRC legend, who happens to be a Red Bull driver**, tested with a Lotus branded GP3 team (formerly ART GP), while his British F3 sister team – Carlin – and ran three cars with other drivers was enough to raise my eyebrow. But only a little.** {note 1b}
This is without going into the MW Arden situation, which is owned by Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner and driver Mark Webber; however MW Arden’s line-up for 2012 was filled some time ago.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:38.609 38 2. Tio Ellinas Marussia-Manor 1:38.733 44 3. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:38.799 54 4. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:38.944 56 5. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:39.014 36 6. Tamas Pa’l Kiss Atech CRS 1:39.075 31 7. Carlos Sainz Jr Lotus GP 1:39.087 60 8. Kevin Ceccon Trident 1:39.102 67 9. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1:39.105 72 10. Tom Blomqvist Status GP 1:39.139 48 11. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.231 58 12. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.271 55 13. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:39.320 62 14. Marlon Stockinger Status GP 1:39.340 51 15. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.649 52 16. Antonio Spavone Trident 1:39.747 77 17. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:39.898 71 18. Fabiano Machado Marussia-Manor 1:40.107 69 19. Vicky Piria Trident 1:40.516 61 20. Kotaro Sakurai Status GP 1:40.541 38 21. William Buller Carlin 1:40.589 48 22. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia-Manor 1:40.731 60 23. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Tech 1:40.951 49 24. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS 1:41.013 52 25. John Wartique Atech CRS 1:42.781 41 26. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Tech 1:44.009 58
