Gutierrez wins GP3 pole at Silverstone

Series leader Esteban Gutierrez crushed his GP3 opposition this morning to claim pole position for Race 1 at Silverstone Circuit.

The ART driver set his fastest time of 1:51.451 in the closing minutes of the 30 minute session, over half a second quicker than his nearest rival around the newly revamped Northamptonshire track. Gutiérrez put in the perfect lap leaving the rest of the thirty young racers furiously trying to better the Mexican’s time but to no avail. The top ten drivers were eventually separated by just one second when the checkered flag dropped.

Despite the early morning start temperatures were soaring during this morning’s free practice session and times rapidly dropped. Manor Racing continued its strong showing from yesterday and British driver Adrian Quaife-Hobbs topped the first half of the session along with Valencia race winner Nico Müller and Status GP’s Daniel Morad. Tech 1 Racing’s Doru Sechelariu also put in an impressive performance at point posting the second fastest time, but the young Romanian was unable to hold on when everyone switched to new rubber with ten minutes left.

As the session came to a close Gutiérrez and Quaife-Hobbs swapped fastest lap times until the ART driver put in his unbeatable flying lap. Rio Haryanto finished the qualifying session in a strong second spot reaffirming Manor Racing’s top form this weekend. Müller took third ahead of Quaife-Hobbs and RSC Mucke Motorsport’s Tobias Hegewald claimed fifth spot – his highest qualifying spot to date. Gutiérrez’s teammate Alexander Rossi also put in his best result of the season in sixth, as did Status GP’s Daniel Morad in seventh. Morad’s teammate Robert Wickens improved in the second half of the session to eighth, although the Canadian will lose ten spots tomorrow for a penalty picked up in Valencia. Rounding out the top ten were James Jakes putting the third Manor car in the top ten, and Carlin’s Dean Smith.

The action continues this afternoon at 16:20 with Race 2.

Full qualifying results:

POS

NO DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS BEHIND
1 2 E. GUTIERREZ ART Grand Prix 1:51.451 14 0.000
2 8 R. HARYANTO Manor Racing 1:52.040 16 0.589
3 25 N. MULLER Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.089 16 0.638
4 9 A. QUAIFE-HOBBS Manor Racing 1:52.112 15 0.661
5 12 T. HEGEWALD RSC Muecke Motorsport 1:52.152 15 0.701
6 1 A. ROSSI ART Grand Prix 1:52.188 15 0.737
7 6 D. MORAD Status Grand Prix 1:52.306 14 0.855
8 4 R. WICKENS Status Grand Prix 1:52.312 15 0.861
9 7 J. JAKES Manor Racing 1:52.316 15 0.865
10 15 D. SMITH Carlin 1:52.511 14 1.060
11 11 R. VAN DER ZANDE RSC Muecke Motorsport 1:52.565 14 1.114
12 19 M. BORTOLOTTI Addax Team 1:52.580 16 1.129
13 28 D. JUNCADELLA Tech 1 Racing 1:52.581 14 1.130
14 20 M. CHRISTENSEN MW Arden 1:52.614 15 1.163
15 27 S. COLETTI Tech 1 Racing 1:52.625 13 1.174
16 30 O. OAKES Atech CRS GP 1:52.636 16 1.185
17 24 S. TRUMMER Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.643 15 1.192
18 23 P. VARHAUG Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.643 15 1.192
19 26 D. SECHELARIU Tech 1 Racing 1:52.692 14 1.241
20 14 J. NEWGARDEN Carlin 1:52.802 13 1.351
21 18 P. SANCHEZ LOPEZ Addax Team 1:52.814 13 1.363
22 17 F. GUIMARAES Addax Team 1:52.904 15 1.453
23 10 N. MELKER RSC Muecke Motorsport 1:52.906 14 1.455
24 29 R. MERHI Atech CRS GP 1:53.072 15 1.621
25 21 M. MONRAS MW Arden 1:53.197 13 1.746
26 16 L. FORESTI Carlin 1:53.256 13 1.805
27 31 V. GHIRELLI Atech CRS GP 1:53.456 15 2.005
28 3 P. NUNES ART Grand Prix 1:53.590 14 2.139
29 22 L. CORDEIRO MW Arden 1:53.697 14 2.246
30 5 I. LUKASHEVICH Status Grand Prix 1:54.044 15 2.593