“Reliability was also very good today” -Wickens
Status GPs Robert Wickens improved on his performance this morning by posting the fastest lap time during this afternoon’s test session at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
The session was dry and bright providing ideal conditions for the thirty young drivers. Wickens led the pack posting a time of 1:27.881, the Canadian snatching the top spot in the dying minutes of the session on fresh rubber. The Status driver was quickly followed by Tech 1 Racing’s Jean Eric Vergne, the Frenchman making a triumphant return to the Series finishing in second. In third spot was ART Grand Prix’s Esteban Gutierrez, the Mexican posting a time of 1:28.163.
Fourth was RSC Mucke Motorsport’s Nigel Melker followed by Manor’s James Jakes. Jenzer Motorsport’s Simon Trummer finished the session in sixth spot and an impressive performance by Tech 1 Racing’s Doru Sechelariu saw the young Romanian take seventh spot. Eighth was Carlin’s Dean Smith, ninth Addax Team’s Felipe Guimaraes, and rounding out the top ten was Jenzer Motorsports Nico Muller.
The session was marred by a splattering of red flags. GP3 new guy Emmanuel Piget stop on track in his #27 Tech 1 Racing car early in the session, whilst his teammate Jean Eric Vergne caused the second red flag of the afternoon by stopping in the pit lane exit. The third and final red flag was caused by a spinning Lucas Foresti in his #16 Carlin car.
A total of 2037 laps were completed during the first day of testing.
Robert Wickens, Status Grand Prix: Overall went really well. We had hardly any mechanical issues and any we did just needed a quick fix and we were back on track so we got through our test plan. We were just trying new different things and I think we are already ahead of the game. Reliability was also very good today.
Jen-Eric Vergne, Tech 1 Racing: We worked a lot today on the car and its much better than this morning but we still have a lot to work to do. Its especially great for the team, they work hard and its the first time we have been P2. This morning was difficult because we had a couple of problems which meant we couldnt make the most of the new tyres, but overall its a positive day. We can now use tomorrow to prepare for the race next week.
Esteban Gutierrez, ART Grand Prix: The morning session we were testing a few different things and the conditions changed a lot from the morning to the afternoon and we didnt really get a lot of running this morning. It was a really positive day. We werent the quickest, but its not always like this and we are using the test to try different things and improve the car in the long term and for the race next week back in Valencia.
The test resumes at 09:00 am local time tomorrow.
Afternoon session complete results:
1 4 WICKENS,Robert Status Grand P. 01:27,881 27
2 28 VERGNE,Jean E. Tech 1 Racing 01:28,052 32 00:00,171
3 2 GUTIERREZ,Esteban ART Grand Prix 01:28,163 32 00:00,282
4 10 MELKER,Nigel RSC Mueke MS 01:28,184 36 00:00,303
5 7 JAKES,James Manor Racing 01:28,191 26 00:00,310
6 24 TRUMMER,Simon Jenzer MS 01:28,191 23 00:00,310
7 26 SECHELARIU,Doru Tech 1 Racing 01:28,228 18 00:00,347
8 15 SMITH,Dean Carlin 01:28,283 49 00:00,402
9 17 GUIMARAES,Felipe Addax Team 01:28,319 24 00:00,438
10 25 MULLER,Nico Jenzer MS 01:28,402 28 00:00,521
11 19 BORTOLOTTI,Mirko Addax Team 01:28,427 33 00:00,546
12 11 ZANDE,R.Van Der RSC Mueke MS 01:28,449 43 00:00,568
13 1 ROSSI,Alexander ART Grand Prix 01:28,492 26 00:00,611
14 18 SANCHEZ,Pablo Addax Team 01:28,515 36 00:00,634
15 9 QUAIFE-Hobbs,A. Manor Racing 01:28,530 26 00:00,649
16 21 MONRAS,Miki MW Arden 01:28,568 38 00:00,687
17 20 CHRISTENSEN,Michael MW Arden 01:28,711 38 00:00,830
18 6 MORAD,Daniel Status Grand P. 01:28,776 40 00:00,895
19 3 NUNES,Pedro ART Grand Prix 01:28,816 39 00:00,935
20 30 OAKES,Oliver Atech CRS GP 01:28,885 41 00:01,004
21 23 VARHAUG,Pal Jenzer MS 01:28,956 32 00:01,075
22 22 CORDEIRO,Leonardo MW Arden 01:29,059 30 00:01,178
23 14 NEWGARDEN,Josef Carlin 01:29,084 48 00:01,203
24 8 HARYANTO,Rio Manor Racing 01:29,230 35 00:01,349
25 5 LUKASHEVICH,Ivan Status Grand P. 01:29,391 34 00:01,510
26 31 GHIRELLI,Vittorio Atech CRS GP 01:29,395 41 00:01,514
27 12 HEGEWALD,Tobías RSC Mueke MS 01:29,413 36 00:01,532
28 27 PIGET,Emmanuel Tech 1 Racing 01:29,653 19 00:01,772
29 16 FORESTI,Lucas Carlin 01:30,092 40 00:02,211
30 29 REITERER,Patrick Atech CRS GP 1
source: GP3 Series