Evans top at Silverstone pre-season test

Mitch Evans fastest

The GP3 Series headed to Silverstone for the final two-day pre-season test before the season commences in Barcelona next month. There was one new face in the line-up for the test and that was British youngster Alice Powell making her maiden appearance in a GP3 car for Status Grand Prix, hoping to impress to land a drive for the upcoming season and become the third female driver of the 2012 season.

The test session began under heavy clouds and cool temperatures as the drivers made their way onto the track to make sure they gained some dry running time with rain predicted. It was Kotaro Sakurai for Status Grand Prix who headed the timesheets for the first 30 minutes before Carlin’s William Buller jumped to the top of the standings. After one hour, it was the duo of MW Arden drivers Matias Laine and David Fumanelli leading the way just before the first red flag of the day occurred when Powell spun at turn 13 getting to grips with her new machine.

Antonio Felix Da Costa then took control of the timings by the smallest of the margins, as the session was brought to a halt when Tamas Pal Kiss stopped on the circuit producing the second red flag of the morning. Felix Da Costa driver improved on his lap time with a 1’51.206, just 0.018s faster than Tio Ellinas and Evans as the drivers went into their final hour of the morning session before the break. Within the last twenty minutes, MW Arden’s Evans set a lap of 1’50.276 which was over half a second quicker than his nearest contenders Felix Da Costa and Ellinas. Buller, Alex Brundle, Marlon Stockinger, Robert Visoiu, Aaro Vainio, Laine and Kevin Ceccon completed the top ten. Evans best laptime was five tenths faster than the quickest time posted at the Silverstone test in 2011.

It was Conor Daly who set the early pace in the afternoon session and then Evans went P1 again. Ethan Ringel crashed after just two laps which caused a red flag and put an early end to his day. When the session resumed, Laine went top with a laptime of 1:50.292, four tenths faster than the New Zealander.

In the final hour of the test, the rain that had been threatening finally arrived, therefore preventing any drivers from improving on their earlier lap times. Several drivers ventured out onto the slippery circuit for some vital wet running, the first for many drivers in a GP3 car for this season. Finnish driver Laine finished just two hundredths off the Evans’ fastest time of the day making it a successful day for MW Arden topping both timesheets. Daly finished P3 with Buller, Vainio, Ellinas, Visoiu, Daniel Abt, Brundle and Patric Niederhauser.

Morning session

Pos Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.276 23
2. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:50.854 26
3. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:50.942 26
4. William Buller Carlin 1:50.951 32
5. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:51.097 26
6. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:51.119 38
7. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.554 27
8. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:51.656 24
9. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:51.672 26
10. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology 1:51.970 26
11. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.009 28
12. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:52.030 21
13. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:52.099 28
14. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:52.102 33
15. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:52.979 39
16. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:53.422 33
17. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:53.478 33
18. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:53.516 26
19. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:53.838 9
20. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:54.267 28
21. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 1:54.386 24
22. Alice Powell Status Grand Prix 1:54.498 20
23. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:54.811 28
24. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:55.317 20
25. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:57.389 27


Afternoon Session

Pos Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:50.292 22
2. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.647 24
3. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:50.985 22
4. William Buller Carlin 1:51.445 22
5. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:51.509 20
6. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.567 29
7. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.650 26
8. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:51.660 24
9. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:51.675 21
10. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.797 25
11. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology 1:51.893 19
12. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:51.906 25
13. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:51.918 26
14. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:52.043 16
15. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.187 25
16. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:52.343 23
17. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:52.707 22
18. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.864 24
19. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:53.213 21
20. Alice Powell Status Grand Prix 1:53.263 22
21. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:53.511 22
22. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:54.280 23
23. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:54.689 25
24. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:55.669 20
25. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 2:05.819 2