Hubert top of the pile in Day 2 of Barcelona test

Anthoine Hubert
Anthoine Hubert

Anthoine Hubert concluded the final GP3 Series pre-season test at Barcelona, Spain on top of the time sheets, setting a quickest lap of the day with a 1:31.751 in the morning session to beat ART Grand Prix teammates Callum Ilott and Jake Hughes to the top of the timing boards.

First on track, Ryan Tveter led out Trident teammates Alessio Lorandi and Pedro Piquet at the start of the session, quickly joined by the rest of the field as they sought to make the most of the cool track conditions in the early morning. Julien Falchero (Arden International) set the initial pace before a red flag, called for Lorandi who had suffered from mechanical issues.

Once the running had recommenced, the pace proved to be faster than that from the previous day; Ilott quickly beat Falchero’s early benchmark, before yesterday’s fastest driver Leonardo Pulcini (Campos Racing) eclipsed the ART Grand Prix driver by less than a tenth. Ilott then reassumed the lead of the timing board at the end of the first hour, becoming the first driver to slip below the 1m31s mark.

Ilott continued to whittle down his time, but teammate Anthoine Hubert displaced the British driver from the top of the timesheets with a lap just 0.03s quicker, leading the way into the final hour. There was little change as the session endured a slight lull, peppered with sporadic appearances from a handful of cars, before the final half-hour welcomed a greater number of race simulations.

The earlier laptimes, however, were left untouched, and a further planned Virtual Safety Car test played the session out to its end with Hubert remaining on top ahead of Ilott and Hughes.

MP Motorsport’s Dorian Boccolacci was fourth fastest ahead of Pulcini, as Nikita Mazepin made it four ART drivers in the top six. Tatiana Calderon claimed the seventh best time, beating Giuliano Alesi (Trident) by 0.005s, as Falchero and Niko Kari (MP) completed the top ten.

Pedro Piquet was the first man on track in the afternoon, which he had all to himself in the opening half-hour as teams continued to prepare following the break. He was later joined on track by MP’s trio of drivers, who indulged in race simulations and practice pitstops as the track slowly started to teem with activity.

After an hour at the top, Piquet was displaced by Calderon who shaved a tenth off the Brazilian’s time, leading a quiet second hour which included very little interruptions to the timing board as race runs continued to be the priority throughout the remainder of the session.

With five minutes to spare, Alesi popped up into the lead of the session, setting a 1:32.901 to complete the session ahead of Calderon and teammate Piquet. Juan Manuel Correa (Jenzer) was fourth ahead of Joey Mawson (Arden), as fellow Jenzer driver David Beckmann grabbed the sixth-best time ahead of Diego Menchaca (Campos) and Tveter. Campos’ Simo Laaksonen. and Gabriel Aubry of Arden rounded out the top half of the field.

This concludes the GP3 pre-season, as attention now turns to the Barcelona season-opener from the 11-13 May.

GP3 Pre-season Test: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2 Morning Session

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

Laps

1

Anthoine Hubert

ART Grand Prix

1:31.751

54

2

Callum Ilott

ART Grand Prix

1:31.780

57

3

Jake Hughes

ART Grand Prix

1:31.983

57

4

Dorian Boccolacci

MP Motorsport

1:32.049

44

5

Leonardo Pulcini

Campos Racing

1:32.073

43

6

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:32.290

45

7

Tatiana Calderon

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.378

35

8

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:32.383

36

9

Julien Falchero

Arden International

1:32.418

50

10

Niko Kari

MP Motorsport

1:32.479

49

11

Pedro Piquet

Trident

1:32.484

49

12

Simo Laaksonen

Campos Racing

1:32.520

38

13

Will Palmer

MP Motorsport

1:32.579

49

14

David Beckmann

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.633

46

15

Juan Manuel Correa

Jenzer Motorsport

1:32.803

41

16

Joey Mawson

Arden International

1:32.839

40

17

Diego Menchaca

Campos Racing

1:32.914

35

18

Ryan Tveter

Trident

1:32.937

41

19

Gabriel Aubry

Arden International

1:33.392

51

20

Alessio Lorandi

Trident

1:43.109

3


GP3 Pre-season Test: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2 Afternoon Session

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

Laps

1

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:32.901

44

2

Tatiana Calderon

Jenzer Motorsport

1:33.154

33

3

Pedro Piquet

Trident

1:33.256

50

4

Juan Manuel Correa

Jenzer Motorsport

1:33.396

32

5

Joey Mawson

Arden International

1:33.606

34

6

David Beckmann

Jenzer Motorsport

1:33.611

40

7

Diego Menchaca

Campos Racing

1:33.635

50

8

Ryan Tveter

Trident

1:33.719

49

9

Simo Laaksonen

Campos Racing

1:33.802

55

10

Gabriel Aubry

Arden International

1:34.189

43

11

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:34.404

38

12

Jake Hughes

ART Grand Prix

1:34.724

40

13

Dorian Boccolacci

MP Motorsport

1:34.960

42

14

Leonardo Pulcini

Campos Racing

1:35.078

36

15

Niko Kari

MP Motorsport

1:35.303

41

16

Will Palmer

MP Motorsport

1:35.355

41

17

Callum Ilott

ART Grand Prix

1:35.433

37

18

Anthoine Hubert

ART Grand Prix

1:35.499

41

19

Julien Falchero

Arden International

1:35.629

39

20

Alessio Lorandi

Trident

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