Barcelona GP3: Patric Niederhauser quickest in practice

Although the second-generation GP3 uses the same chassis as its predecessor, it now features a throaty 3.4-litre AER V6 engine producing 400bhp.

Niederhauser, a two-time GP3 race-winner in the old machine, lapped the Circuit de Catalunya in 1m35.044s, almost three and a half seconds quicker than the fastest previous race weekend lap set by Mitch Evans in 2011, whose pole time back then was 1m38.498s.

2013 GP3 grid guide

Jack Harvey set early pace of 1m36.417s, a tenth clear of ART team-mate Conor Daly. But after 15 minutes Red Bull Junior driver Daniil Kvyat hit the front, where he stayed until the last 10 minutes of the session.

Then the times began to tumble, with Jenzer's Alex Fontana going fastest before his team-mate Niederhauser set his best lap that proved the quickest overall.

Trident's David Fumanelli came closest, just failing to capture the top spot by 0.093s on his last lap.

Fontana held onto third ahead of a late effort by Arden's Robert Visoiu.

China's Adderly Fong backed up his promising pre-season pace with the fifth-quickest time for Status, ahead of Kvyat.

Harvey fell to ninth after failing to improve on his early time, with Daly back in 12th.

Early in the session, Status's Josh Webster spun off at Turn 9 and became beached in the gravel, while Patrick Kujala shunted his Koiranen car soon after, nosing into the Turn 3 barrier to end his session.

Before that, Kujala became one of four drivers to pick up a 10-place grid penalty for failing to acknowledge yellow flags. Fontana, Carlos Sainz Jr and Kevin Korjus face the same punishment in Saturday morning's qualifying session.

Pos  Driver               Team      Time       Gap
 1.  Patric Niederhauser  Jenzer    1m35.044s
 2.  David Fumanelli      Trident   1m35.137s  + 0.093s
 3.  Alex Fontana         Jenzer    1m35.464s  + 0.420s
 4.  Robert Visoiu        MW Arden  1m35.581s  + 0.537s
 5.  Adderly Fong         Status    1m35.800s  + 0.756s
 6.  Daniil Kvyat         MW Arden  1m35.810s  + 0.766s
 7.  Nick Yelloly         Carlin    1m35.821s  + 0.777s
 8.  Luis Sa Silva        Carlin    1m36.170s  + 1.126s
 9.  Jack Harvey          ART       1m36.417s  + 1.373s
10.  Emanuele Zonzini     Trident   1m36.471s  + 1.427s
11.  Eric Lichtenstein    Carlin    1m36.480s  + 1.436s
12.  Conor Daly           ART       1m36.553s  + 1.509s
13.  Carlos Sainz Jr      MW Arden  1m36.567s  + 1.523s
14.  Tio Ellinas          Manor     1m36.680s  + 1.636s
15.  Jimmy Eriksson       Status    1m36.951s  + 1.907s
16.  Giovanni Venturini   Trident   1m36.973s  + 1.929s
17.  Dino Zamparelli      Manor     1m37.224s  + 2.180s
18.  Facu Regalia         ART       1m37.304s  + 2.260s
19.  Samin Gomez          Jenzer    1m37.512s  + 2.468s
20.  Lewis Williamson     Bamboo    1m37.513s  + 2.469s
21.  Melville McKee       Bamboo    1m37.763s  + 2.719s
22.  Kevin Korjus         Koiranen  1m37.907s  + 2.863s
23.  Carmen Jorda         Bamboo    1m38.321s  + 3.277s
24.  Ryan Cullen          Manor     1m38.582s  + 3.538s
25.  Josh Webster         Status    1m38.648s  + 3.604s
26.  Patrick Kujala       Koiranen  1m38.801s  + 3.757s
27.  Aaro Vainio          Koiranen  1m39.091s  + 4.047s