GP3 Series

Evans Tops First Day Of Last GP3 Pre-Season Test At Silverstone

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Mitch Evans - Photo Credit: Daniel Kalisz/GP3 Series Media Service

Evans continues to demonstrate that he'll be the man to beat this year - Photo Credit: Daniel Kalisz/GP3 Series Media Service

GP3 Series title favourite Mitch Evans underlined his pre-season status by posting the fastest time at Silverstone as the teams reconvened for the final test ahead of the season opener at Barcelona next month.

The MW Arden driver went quickest in the closing stages of the morning session, ending up nearly six tenths clear of the rest of the field by lunchtime.

Carlin driver Antonio Felix da Costa came closest, ahead of Marussia Manor Racing contender Tio Ellinas. It was a good start to the test for Carlin on home soil, with William Buller placing fourth fastest in the morning and Alex Brundle in sixth. The British duo sandwiched Status Grand Prix pilot Marlon Stockinger.

Romanian Robert Visoiu was seventh for Jenzer Motorsport, with Aaro Vainio the quickest of the Lotus GP trio in eighth place. The top ten was rounded out by Arden's Matias Laine and Kevin Ceccon, making his first appearance with Ocean's GP3 squad.

It was Laine who fastest in the afternoon, falling just 0.016 seconds shy of teammate Evans' morning benchmark. That was despite the final hour of the session being greeted by rain, preventing any improvement on times.

Evans was second fastest this time, three tenths off Laine. Conor Daly was third after setting the early pace, with Buller continuing his strong form in fourth place, albeit more than a second away from Laine. Vainio, Ellinas and Visoiu were next up, ahead of Daniel Abt, Brundle and Patric Niederhauser.

Morning session

  Driver Team Laptime Gap Laps
1. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.276   23
2. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:50.854 0.578 26
3. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:50.942 0.666 26
4. William Buller Carlin 1:50.951 0.675 32
5. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:51.097 0.821 26
6. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:51.119 0.843 38
7. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.554 1.278 27
8. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:51.656 1.380 24
9. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:51.672 1.396 26
10. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology 1:51.970 1.694 26
11. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.009 1.733 28
12. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:52.030 1.754 21
13. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:52.099 1.823 28
14. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:52.102 1.826 33
15. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:52.979 2.703 39
16. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:53.422 3.146 33
17. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:53.478 3.202 33
18. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:53.516 3.240 26
19. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:53.838 3.562 9
20. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:54.267 3.991 28
21. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 1:54.386 4.110 24
22. Alice Powell Status Grand Prix 1:54.498 4.222 20
23. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:54.811 4.535 28
24. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:55.317 5.041 20
25. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:57.389 7.113 27

Afternoon Session

  Driver Team Laptime Gap Laps
1. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:50.292   22
2. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.647 0.355 24
3. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:50.985 0.693 22
4. William Buller Carlin 1:51.445 1.153 22
5. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:51.509 1.217 20
6. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.567 1.275 29
7. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.650 1.358 26
8. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:51.660 1.368 24
9. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:51.675 1.383 21
10. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.797 1.505 25
11. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology 1:51.893 1.601 19
12. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:51.906 1.614 25
13. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:51.918 1.626 26
14. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:52.043 1.751 16
15. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.187 1.895 25
16. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:52.343 2.051 23
17. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:52.707 2.415 22
18. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.864 2.572 24
19. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:53.213 2.921 21
20. Alice Powell Status Grand Prix 1:53.263 2.971 22
21. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:53.511 3.219 22
22. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:54.280 3.988 23
23. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:54.689 4.397 25
24. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:55.669 5.377 20
25. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 2:05.819 0.355 2
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Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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