Aaro Vainio goes quickest on final day of Estoril GP3 test for Lotus
Aaro Vainio set the pace on the second and final day of GP3 testing at Estoril to leave the Portuguese circuit with the fastest time of all
The Finn's 1m30.466s lap came half an hour into the morning session and was around a second faster than Nico Muller's pace-setting time of the previous day.
MW Arden driver Mitch Evans had set the initial benchmark before Lotus driver Vainio knocked him off the top spot. Nobody else was able to get on terms with him for the rest of the day; Manor's Tio Ellinas - fastest in the afternoon - coming closest with an effort 0.107s adrift.
For a second day in a row Antonio Felix da Costa was third fastest for Carlin. Evans and Lotus driver Conor Daly completed the top five.
Tamas Pal Kiss kept up his strong form with the sixth best time for Atech CRS while Jenzer pair Patric Niederhauser and Matheo Tuscher were impressively seventh and eighth.
Daniel Abt (Lotus) and Marlon Stockinger completed the top 10, the Status driver setting the fourth quickest time in the afternoon to leap up the overall order.
There were two red flags in the morning, both brought out by incidents for Trident's Vicky Piria. Day one pace-setter Muller was only 17th overall after switching from Trident to Tech 1.
Combined times:
Pos Driver Team Time Gaps Laps 1. Aaro Vainio Lotus 1m30.466s 58 2. Tio Ellinas Manor 1m30.573s + 0.107s 55 3. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1m30.610s + 0.164s 67 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m30.810s + 0.364s 63 5. Conor Daly Lotus 1m30.855s + 0.389s 71 6. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS 1m30.936s + 0.470s 50 7. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer 1m30.985s + 0.519s 70 8. Matheo Tuscher Jenzer 1m31.036s + 0.570s 75 9. Daniel Abt Lotus 1m31.055s + 0.589s 76 10. Marlon Stockinger Status 1m31.298s + 0.832s 58 11. Robert Visoiu Jenzer 1m31.314s + 0.848s 64 12. Dmitry Suranovich Manor 1m31.382s + 0.916s 66 13. Matias Laine MW Arden 1m31.421s + 0.955s 49 14. Fabiano Machado Manor 1m31.491s + 1.025s 57 15. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1m31.527s + 1.061s 52 16. Miki Weckstrom Status 1m31.539s + 1.073s 53 17. Nico Muller Tech 1 1m31.570s + 1.104s 69 18. Will Buller Carlin 1m31.597s + 1.131s 77 19. Alex Brundle Carlin 1m32.001s + 1.135s 104 20. Yuki Shiraishi Trident 1m32.307s + 1.442s 84 21. Nil Montserrat Status 1m32.357s + 1.891s 56 22. Antonio Spavone Trident 1m32.446s + 1.980s 73 23. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS 1m32.466s + 2.000s 52 24. Robert Cregan Tech 1 1m32.594s + 2.128s 56 25. Vicky Piria Trident 1m32.932s + 2.468s 64
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments