GP3 Hot News

Michael Christensen quickest on final day at Silverstone

Autoracing1

RSC Mücke Motorsport’s Michael Christensen was the quickest man on track today, after setting the best time of 1:51.799 on the final day of 2011 official GP3 Series testing at Silverstone Circuit.

As per the past two mornings, the teams were greeted by wet and windy weather at the British track. Pedro Nunes was the first man to complete a lap for Lotus ART, but from the outset there were a number of red flags breaking up proceedings as the young drivers once again got to grips with the tricky conditions. Alexander Sims, Conor Daly and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs all shared the top spot in the wet, but as the track started to dry and the times dropped, Valtteri Bottas moved ahead – the Finn from Lotus ART recovering well from an earlier incident.

It wasn’t until the dying minutes of the morning that teams could start sending their drivers out on slick tires, resulting in a shootout for the top spot. It was Lewis Williamson and Addax Team’s Gabby Chaves who battled it out to take the honors, and after swapping quickest lap times, it was Brit who triumphed for MW Arden.

The afternoon finally provided a much longed-for dry and sunny, albeit very windy session. It was a quiet start with the drivers making the most of the dry weather to put down some mileage. Within the first hour, Williamson was back on top in his #28 machine, followed by Jenzer’s Nico Müller and Lotus ART’s James Calado.

At mid-session, it was Status GP’s Alexander Sims who was planted firmly at the top of the timing sheet, before Christensen took the reins in his #30 RSC Mücke Motorsport car. He posted a lap time of 1:51.799, and despite an inevitable last minute shootout on new rubber, the Dane had done enough to keep him at the top, rounding out a successful day for the Mücke driver. Sims was second quickest in his #4 Status car ahead of Müller, rookie Mitch Evans and Rio Haryanto. This morning’s quickest man, Williamson, finished in sixth.

GP3 Series will be back on track April 12-13-14 for the final pre-season test in Barcelona.

Morning times:

POS NO NAME NAT ENTRY TIME LAPS
1 28 Lewis WILLIAMSON GBR MW Arden 1:52.963 23
2 24 Gabby CHAVES USA Addax Team 1:53.073 29
3 30 Michael CHRISTENSEN DEN RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:53.176 32
4 26 Mitch EVANS NZL MW Arden 1:53.581 32
5 14 Conor DALY USA Carlin 1:53.934 38
6 31 Nigel MELKER NED RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:53.943 38
7 27 Simon TRUMMER SUI MW Arden 1:54.023 37
8 12 Matias LAINE FIN Marussia Manor Racing 1:54.119 29
9 15 Tom DILLMANN FRA Carlin 1:54.392 28
10 10 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS GBR Marussia Manor Racing 1:54.659 35
11 5 Antonio Felix Da COSTA POR Status Grand Prix 1:54.801 37
12 2 Valtteri BOTTAS FIN Lotus ART 1:54.922 19
13 8 Maxim ZIMIN RUS Jenzer Motorsport 1:55.070 34
14 9 Vittorio GHIRELLI ITA Jenzer Motorsport 1:55.074 41
15 3 James CALADO GBR Lotus ART 1:55.149 35
16 4 Alexander SIMS GBR Status Grand Prix 1:55.385 36
17 17 Aaro VAINIO FIN Tech 1 Racing 1:55.406 24
18 25 Simon MOSS RSA Addax Team 1:55.913 41
19 19 Tamas PAL KISS HUN Tech 1 Racing 1:55.948 28
20 7 Nico MULLER SUI Jenzer Motorsport 1:55.979 41
21 11 Rio HARYANTO INA Marussia Manor Racing 1:56.056 33
22 6 Ivan LUKASHEVICH RUS Status Grand Prix 1:56.166 33
23 1 Pedro NUNES BRA Lotus ART 1:56.275 29
24 18 Andrea CALDARELLI ITA Tech 1 Racing 1:56.352 38
25 21 Nick YELLOLY GBR Atech CRS GP 1:56.399 19
26 22 Zoel AMBERG SUI Atech CRS GP 1:56.654 34
27 29 Willi STEINDL AUT RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:56.832 32
28 20 Marlon STOCKINGER PHI Atech CRS GP 1:57.132 9
29 23 Thomas HYLKEMA NED Addax Team 2:13.738 10
30 16 Kotaro SAKURAI JPN Carlin 2:14.291 19


Afternoon times:

POS NO NAME NAT ENTRY TIME LAPS
1 30 Michael CHRISTENSEN DEN RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:51.799 47
2 4 Alexander SIMS GBR Status Grand Prix 1:51.868 41
3 7 Nico MULLER SUI Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.967 41
4 26 Mitch EVANS NZL MW Arden 1:51.973 33
5 11 Rio HARYANTO INA Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.018 42
6 28 Lewis WILLIAMSON GBR MW Arden 1:52.063 39
7 27 Simon TRUMMER SUI MW Arden 1:52.077 43
8 19 Tamas PAL KISS HUN Tech 1 Racing 1:52.147 33
9 18 Andrea CALDARELLI ITA Tech 1 Racing 1:52.176 42
10 5 Antonio Felix Da COSTA POR Status Grand Prix 1:52.219 34
11 2 Valtteri BOTTAS FIN Lotus ART 1:52.249 41
12 12 Matias LAINE FIN Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.413 34
13 24 Gabby CHAVES USA Addax Team 1:52.484 32
14 29 Willi STEINDL AUT RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:52.539 39
15 17 Aaro VAINIO FIN Tech 1 Racing 1:52.597 38
16 3 James CALADO GBR Lotus ART 1:52.608 41
17 20 Marlon STOCKINGER PHI Atech CRS GP 1:52.816 29
18 21 Nick YELLOLY GBR Atech CRS GP 1:52.821 30
19 10 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS GBR Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.955 17
20 15 Tom DILLMANN FRA Carlin 1:52.969 42
21 8 Maxim ZIMIN RUS Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.980 42
22 6 Ivan LUKASHEVICH RUS Status Grand Prix 1:53.053 48
23 14 Conor DALY USA Carlin 1:53.153 40
24 22 Zoel AMBERG SUI Atech CRS GP 1:53.227 39
25 1 Pedro NUNES BRA Lotus ART 1:53.750 18
26 9 Vittorio GHIRELLI ITA Jenzer Motorsport 1:53.850 39
27 25 Simon MOSS RSA Addax Team 1:54.223 31
28 16 Kotaro SAKURAI JPN Carlin 1:54.330 35