Stoffel Vandoorne dominates Day 3

The final day of post season testing took place today at Yas Marina Circuit with a slightly changed field, some drivers who have been testing on the previous days moving to new teams whilst new drivers joined the action.

The pitlane opened this morning and all twenty six cars fed onto the track. Jordan King (Addax) set the early pace ahead of Stephane Richelmi before a short red flag period as Daniel Abt (Hilmer) stopped on track. At the re-start Carlin’s Jazeman Jaafar claimed the top spot ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne who switched to DAMS today. The Belgium later improved on the Malaysian’s time by five tenths and led the way. His teammate Richelmi was the first man to dip under 1m50s and with thirty minutes left on the clock, Vandoorne found some extra pace and reclaimed P1. A second red flag period interrupted the proceedings as Rene Binder (Lazarus) also stopped on track. The track was live again shortly after, but Vandoorne remained top. At the checkered flag, he was leading GP3 runner-up Facu Regalia (Addax), Richelmi, Arthur Pic (Arden), Simon Trummer, Mitch Evans (Racing Engineering), GP3 graduate Giovanni Venturini (Trident), Andre Negrao (Carlin), Johnny Cecotto (Rapax) and Dani Clos (Lazarus).

As soon as the pitlane re-opened for the evening session, Vandoorne wasted no time to top the timesheet and dip under 1m50s, but the Belgium’s laptime was bettered by yesterday’s quickest man Rio Haryanto (Caterham). The rest of the session saw both men fighting for the top stop with the Belgium being the first to break the 1m49s barrier benefiting from cooler track temperatures than yesterday. In the final hour, Vandoorne set a string of flyers with the best one a 1:48.657 – the best laptime of all three days of testing at Yas Marina Circuit. In the dying minutes of the session, Venturini found some clean air to move up to P2. At the checkered flag, Vandoorne remained top ahead of Venturini, Haryanto, Raffaele Marciello (racing Engineering), Daniel Abt (Hilmer), Tio Ellinas (MP Motorsport), Cecotto, Regalia, Richelmi and Jordan King (Addax).

That’s a wrap to the 2013 GP2 Series season. The paddock will gather early in 2014 for the pre-season testing (dates and venues to be announced shortly).

Morning results

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Stoffel Vandoorne DAMS 1:49.322 28
2. Facu Regalia Barwa Addax Team 1:49.764 24
3. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1:49.904 24
4. Arthur Pic Arden International 1:50.095 30
5. Simon Trummer Rapax 1:50.116 22
6. Mitch Evans Racing Engineering 1:50.226 26
7. Giovanni Venturini Trident Racing 1:50.241 22
8. Andre Negrao Carlin 1:50.301 22
9. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:50.330 21
10. Dani Clos Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:50.374 27
11. Daniel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:50.393 14
12. Daniel Abt Hilmer Motorsport 1:50.440 17
13. Julian Leal Hilmer Motorsport 1:50.562 27
14. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1:50.610 27
15. Jordan King Barwa Addax Team 1:50.757 21
16. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1:50.961 26
17. Nathanael Berthon Arden International 1:50.976 23
18. Tio Ellinas MP Motorsport 1:51.079 24
19. Conor Daly ART Grand Prix 1:51.514 33
20. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:51.657 15
21. Gianmarco Raimondo Trident Racing 1:51.675 31
22. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:51.865 10
23. Nikolay Martsenko ART Grand Prix 1:52.370 41
24. Sam Bird RUSSIAN TIME 1:52.538 27
25. Will Stevens EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:53.551 20
26. Rio Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:53.648 24

Evening results

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Stoffel Vandoorne DAMS 1:48.657 34
2. Giovanni Venturini Trident Racing 1:48.710 34
3. Rio Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:48.796 32
4. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1:49.052 26
5. Daniel Abt Hilmer Motorsport 1:49.090 31
6. Tio Ellinas MP Motorsport 1:49.157 29
7. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:49.256 30
8. Facu Regalia Barwa Addax Team 1:49.373 20
9. Stéphane Richelmi DAMS 1:49.374 34
10. Jordan King Barwa Addax Team 1:49.440 26
11. Will Stevens EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:49.570 29
12. Andre Negrao Carlin 1:49.600 28
13. Nathanael Berthon Arden International 1:49.611 28
14. Julian Leal Hilmer Motorsport 1:49.680 31
15. Arthur Pic Arden International 1:49.690 33
16. Mitch Evans Racing Engineering 1:49.704 24
17. Daniel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:49.727 19
18. Dani Clos Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:49.854 30
19. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1:49.912 32
20. Simon Trummer Rapax 1:49.982 37
21. Nikolay Martsenko ART Grand Prix 1:50.110 32
22. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:50.294 36
23. Conor Daly ART Grand Prix 1:50.312 26
24. Gianmarco Raimondo Trident Racing 1:50.919 28
25. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:51.165 23
26. Sam Bird RUSSIAN TIME 1:51.696 22