Laine is eighth in the standings after the first couple of rounds - Photo Credit: Alastair Staley/GP3 Media Service
Matias Laine posted the fastest time on the first of two days of GP3 Series mid-season testing at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo Circuit, edging out Daniel Abt by just three thousandths of a second in the morning session.
MW Arden driver Laine posted a fastest time of 1m26.610s, just enough to beat Lotus GP's Abt, who had topped both days of post-season testing at the Spanish circuit last year.
Marussia Manor's Tio Ellinas was also close to the pace, just 0.019s away from Laine while David Fumanelli was also with a tenth of his MW Arden teammate.
Fresh from victory in the Monaco sprint race, Marlon Stockinger was fifth for Status Grand Prix, just ahead of the man he denied there, Antonio Felix Da Costa.
Conor Daly was seventh on his first time in the cockpit since his spectacular Monaco accident, ahead of Patric Niederhauser and Mitch Evans. Nico Muller returned in Trident Racing's vacant third car, and rounded out the top ten.
Muller went quickest in the afternoon, going 0.181s ahead of Felix Da Costa with eight minutes remaining. His time was two and a half tenths off Laine's morning benchmark.
Ellinas was again third, but nearly eight tenths off the pace. Fumanelli was next up ahead of fellow Italian Kevin Ceccon. Daly was sixth, ahead of Robert Visoiu – who will miss the second day of running due to an exam, meaning his Jenzer car will be handed over to Irishman Gary Thompson.
Evans, Laine and Abt completed the top ten for the afternoon. Points leader Aaro Vainio finished both sessions outside of the top ten, in 13th and 12th respectively.
Venezuelan female racer Samin Gomez made her GP3 debut with Jenzer, and finished up 22nd and 21st in the two sessions, only just over a tenth off regular Alice Powell on both occasions. Carlin are only running two cars, with Alex Brundle busy competing at Le Mans with his father Martin.
Morning session:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laptime | Gap | Laps |
| 1. | Matias Laine | MW Arden | 1:26.610 |
32 |
|
| 2. | Daniel Abt | Lotus GP | 1:26.613 | 0.003 |
40 |
| 3. | Tio Ellinas | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:26.629 | 0.019 |
21 |
| 4. | David Fumanelli | MW Arden | 1:26.686 | 0.076 |
35 |
| 5. | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1:26.725 | 0.115 |
25 |
| 6. | Antonio Felix Da Costa | Carlin | 1:26.817 | 0.207 |
34 |
| 7. | Conor Daly | Lotus GP | 1:26.836 | 0.226 |
25 |
| 8. | Patric Niederhauser | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:26.932 | 0.322 |
28 |
| 9. | Mitch Evans | MW Arden | 1:27.134 | 0.524 |
31 |
| 10. | Nico Muller | Trident Racing | 1:27.317 | 0.707 |
25 |
| 11. | Robert Visoiu | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:27.323 | 0.713 |
23 |
| 12. | William Buller | Carlin | 1:27.332 | 0.722 |
31 |
| 13. | Aaro Vainio | Lotus GP | 1:27.516 | 0.906 |
30 |
| 14. | Kevin Ceccon | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:27.524 | 0.914 |
28 |
| 15. | Tamas Pal Kiss | Atech CRS GP | 1:27.579 | 0.969 |
32 |
| 16. | Antonio Spavone | Trident Racing | 1:27.651 | 1.041 |
39 |
| 17. | Dmitry Suranovich | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:28.043 | 1.433 |
24 |
| 18. | Fabiano Machado | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:28.142 | 1.532 |
25 |
| 19. | Vicky Piria | Trident Racing | 1:28.217 | 1.607 |
36 |
| 20. | Ethan Ringel | Atech CRS GP | 1:29.047 | 2.437 |
26 |
| 21. | Alice Powell | Status Grand Prix | 1:29.067 | 2.457 |
34 |
| 22. | Samin Gomez | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:29.179 | 2.569 |
29 |
| 23. | John Wartique | Atech CRS GP | 1:29.493 | 2.883 |
33 |
| 24. | Robert Cregan | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:29.672 | 3.062 |
27 |
| 25. | Carmen Jorda | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:30.512 | 3.902 |
21 |
Afternoon session:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laptime | Gap | Laps |
| 1. | Nico Muller | Trident Racing | 1:26.865 |
33 |
|
| 2. | Antonio Felix Da Costa | Carlin | 1:27.046 |
0.181 |
34 |
| 3. | Tio Ellinas | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:27.663 |
0.798 |
26 |
| 4. | David Fumanelli | MW Arden | 1:27.721 |
0.856 |
29 |
| 5. | Kevin Ceccon | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:27.723 |
0.858 |
17 |
| 6. | Conor Daly | Lotus GP | 1:27.785 |
0.920 |
35 |
| 7. | Robert Visoiu | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:27.842 |
0.977 |
32 |
| 8. | Mitch Evans | MW Arden | 1:27.870 |
1.005 |
21 |
| 9. | Matias Laine | MW Arden | 1:27.912 |
1.047 |
31 |
| 10. | Daniel Abt | Lotus GP | 1:27.982 |
1.117 |
32 |
| 11. | William Buller | Carlin | 1:27.990 |
1.125 |
28 |
| 12. | Aaro Vainio | Lotus GP | 1:28.059 |
1.194 |
42 |
| 13. | Patric Niederhauser | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:28.144 |
1.279 |
27 |
| 14. | Dmitry Suranovich | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:28.417 |
1.552 |
27 |
| 15. | Ethan Ringel | Atech CRS GP | 1:28.515 |
1.650 |
26 |
| 16. | Antonio Spavone | Trident Racing | 1:28.693 |
1.828 |
32 |
| 17. | Tamas Pal Kiss | Atech CRS GP | 1:28.901 |
2.036 |
32 |
| 18. | Vicky Piria | Trident Racing | 1:29.003 |
2.138 |
29 |
| 19. | Alice Powell | Status Grand Prix | 1:29.022 |
2.157 |
16 |
| 20. | John Wartique | Atech CRS GP | 1:29.045 |
2.180 |
23 |
| 21. | Samin Gomez | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:29.132 |
2.267 |
33 |
| 22. | Fabiano Machado | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:29.481 |
2.616 |
26 |
| 23. | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1:29.694 |
2.829 |
10 |
| 24. | Robert Cregan | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:29.920 |
3.055 |
24 |
| 25. | Carmen Jorda | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:31.040 |
4.175 |
22 |
