GP3 – Patric Niederhauser above the rest in Barcelona

Barcelona is over. At the end of four test sessions spread over two days, it was the Swiss Patric Niederhauser who proved to be the fastest with a time of 1:33:750. A performance which is 4,2 seconds faster than the best lap achieved on the Catalan circuit in 2012 with the old generation of car.

If the sky appeared threatening from the start of the day over Barcelona, ​​the rain gave the competitors a little more than an hour of respite before arriving. As a result, the 27 GP3 Series drivers had some time to properly test their cars in the morning, with a new appearance at Bamboo Engineering: Melville McKee replaced Lewis Williamson for this second day in Spain.

In the end, Patric Niederhauser took the fastest lap of the two days, being the only one to go below the 1:34 mark. He finished ahead of his compatriot and teammate Alex Fontana while Tio Ellinas (Marussia Manor Racing) completed the top 3.

Starting under heavy rain showers, the last session of this Wednesday proved to be nothing short of chaotic for those involved in the GP3 Series, to the point that some drivers simply did not see fit to venture onto the track. On several occasions, the red flag was called as the drivers lost control of their new GP3/13. Carlos Sainz Jr, driver of MW Arden, even seriously damaged his car when exiting at turn 3, a corner which gave many competitors a hard time in these conditions. In the end Aaro Vainio (Koiranen GP) finished with the best time in the rain (1'54"509). Behind the Finn, the two ART Grand Prix drivers, the Briton Jack Harvey (1'56"109) and the American Conor Daly (1'56"305) complete the top 3.

Next winter tests, April 3 and 4 at Silverstone, Great Britain.

Barcelona GP3 practice rankings, morning Wednesday March 13:
1. Patric Niederhauser (Jenzer Motorsport) 1:33.750
2. Alex Fontana (Jenzer Motorsport) 1:34.176
3. Tio Ellinas (Marussia Manor Racing) 1:34.209
4. Nick Cassidy (Marussia Manor Racing) 1:34.219
5. Giovanni Venturini (Trident) 1:34.411
6. Daniil Kvyat (MW Arden) 1:34.441
7. Jack Harvey (ART Grand Prix) 1:34.491
8. Facu Regalia (ART Grand Prix) 1:34.519
9. Dino Zamparelli (Marussia Manor Racing) 1:34.520
10. Conor Daly (ART Grand Prix) 1:34.576
11. Carlos Sainz Jnr (MW Arden) 1:34.601
12. Nick Yelloly (Pug) 1:34.668
13. David Fumanelli (MW Arden) 1:34.720
14. Kevin Korjus (Koiranen GP) 1:34.737
15. Jimmy Eriksson (Status Grand Prix) 1:34.738
16. Robert Visoiu (MW Arden) 1:34.738
17. Patrick Kujala (Koiranen GP) 1:34.844
18. Emanuele Zonzini (Trident) 1:34.976
19. Adderly Fong (Status Grand Prix) 1:35.159
20. Aaro Vainio (Koiranen GP) 1:35.328
21. Luis Sa Silva (Carlin) 1:35.447
22. Josh Webster (Carlin) 1:35.629
23. Samin Gomez (Jenzer Motorsport) 1:36.072
24. Eric Lichtenstein (Carlin) 1:36.209
25. Melville McKee (Bamboo Engineering) 1:36.336
26. Ryan Cullen (Bamboo Engineering) 1:37.128
27. Carmen Jorda (Bamboo Engineering) 1:38.378

Barcelona GP3 practice rankings, afternoon Wednesday March 13:
1. Aaro Vainio (Koiranen GP) 1:54.509
2. Jack Harvey (ART Grand Prix) 1:56.109
3. Conor Daly (ART Grand Prix) 1:56.305
4. Kevin Korjus (Koiranen GP) 1:56.385
5. Eric Lichtenstein (Carlin) 1:57.161
6. Facu Regalia (ART Grand Prix) 1:57.234
7. Giovanni Venturini (Trident) 1:57.622
8. Jimmy Eriksson (Status Grand Prix) 1:57.843
9. Nick Yelloly (Pug) 1:58.106
10. Dino Zamparelli (Marussia Manor Racing) 1:58.183
11. Adderly Fong (Status Grand Prix) 1:59.207
12. David Fumanelli (Trident) 1:59.252
13. Josh Webster (Status Grand Prix) 1:59.568
14. Emanuele Zonzini (Trident) 2:00.464
15. Patrick Kujala (Koiranen GP) 2:01.289
16. Ryan Cullen (Bamboo Engineering) 2:01.476
17. Carlos Sainz Jnr (MW Arden) 2:01.903
18. Luis Sa Silva (Carlin) 2:02.681
19. Melville McKee (Bamboo Engineering) 2:03.899
20. Nick Cassidy (Marussia Manor Racing) 2:07.770
21. Alex Fontana (Jenzer Motorsport) 2:22.905