GP3 Series testing got back underway in Valencia, with Trident Motorsport‘s Artur Janosz setting the best time of the day – a 1m21.755s – in the morning session, while Koiranen GP‘s Matthew Parry topped the afternoon session with a 1m21.932s.
The only change since the first pre-season test was the addition of Richard Gonda who signed to Jenzer Motorsport earlier this week.
Jake Hughes was the first to take to the track, but it was Akash Nandy who first ventured into the 1m23s. It was DAMS and Haas F1 Team development driver Santino Ferrucci finding that extra pace to lower the benchmark, only to be beaten by Oscar Tunjo who rose to the top with a 1m22.029s.
A stoppage to the session was brought about following Parry stopping on track.
Up till the midpoint of the session, Tunjo still led the way before Janosz rocketed to the top of the timing screens to relegate him to second place – with Arden International‘s Jack Aitken in third place, with over 30 minutes remaining on the clock.
Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc soon leapt up into second place, only to be displaced by his team-mate Alexander Albon. Campos Racing driver Konstantin Tereshchenko improved up to third, pushing Leclerc down to fourth place.
As the morning session drew to a close, Janosz remained unchallenged ahead of: Albon, Tereshchenko, Leclerc, Tunjo, Alex Palou, Nyck de Vries, Tatiana Calderon and Giuliano Alesi.
Following the two hour lunch break, the Arden duo of Jake Dennis and Aitken led for much of the afternoon – separated by a mere 0.027s. The main focus of this session for the drivers was discovering their long run pace.
With 30 minutes left of the day’s running, Parry shot to the top of the timings to be the only driver to break the 1m21s barrier in the afternoon session.
The Koiranen driver remained P1 when the day drew to its close, ahead of: Dennis, Aitken, Nirei Fukuzumi, Leclerc, Albon, Tunjo, Steijn Schothorst, Ferrucci and Matevos Isaakyan.
Valencia Pre-Season Test Morning Session
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Valencia Pre-Season Test Afternoon Session
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