Muller leads GP3 test day two
Jenzer's Nico Muller was quickest on the second and final day of GP3 testing at Paul Ricard, as the weather improved following Thursday's washout and allowed the teams to get a full day of dry running
Muller set his benchmark 1m20.896s lap during the morning session, which saw second-year drivers to the fore as Mucke's Nigel Melker and Michael Christensen, and Arden's Simon Trummer completed the top four, ahead of Status driver Antonio Felix da Costa, who made a handful of GP3 starts in 2010.
The best newcomer was Arden's teenage New Zealander Mitch Evans in sixth place. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Manor), Thursday pacesetter Alexander Sims (Status) and rookies Lewis Williamson (Arden) and Aaro Vainio (Tech 1) completed the top 10.
Sims was back on top in the afternoon, though only after ART driver James Calado had a late session-topping lap disallowed for cutting a chicane.
There was just 0.002 seconds between Sims' afternoon best and Muller's top time from the morning.
Evans took another step forward in session two to take an impressive second place, with Muller now down to third ahead of da Costa and Addax's Daniel Morad.
GP3 testing resumes at Silverstone on 29-31 March.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m20.896s 54 2. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m20.982s + 0.086s 43 3. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m20.998s + 0.102s 46 4. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m21.122s + 0.226s 53 5. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m21.158s + 0.262s 48 6. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m21.192s + 0.296s 57 7. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m21.243s + 0.347s 39 8. Alexander Sims Status 1m21.288s + 0.392s 47 9. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m21.291s + 0.395s 58 10. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m21.464s + 0.568s 44 11. Pedro Nunes ART 1m21.580s + 0.684s 37 12. Matias Laine Manor 1m21.582s + 0.686s 41 13. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m21.711s + 0.815s 53 14. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m21.720s + 0.824s 33 15. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m21.740s + 0.844s 55 16. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m21.752s + 0.856s 58 17. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m21.762s + 0.866s 49 18. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m21.772s + 0.876s 50 19. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m21.773s + 0.877s 50 20. Doru Sechelariu Tech 1 1m21.833s + 0.937s 58 21. Daniel Morad Addax 1m21.866s + 0.970s 58 22. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m21.996s + 1.100s 56 23. James Calado ART 1m22.063s + 1.167s 32 24. Conor Daly Carlin 1m22.168s + 1.272s 59 25. Bruno Mendez Addax 1m22.301s + 1.405s 64 26. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m22.328s + 1.432s 52 27. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m22.447s + 1.551s 45 28. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m22.812s + 1.916s 19 29. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1m23.058s + 2.162s 49 30. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m23.204s + 2.308s 38 Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Alexander Sims Status 1m20.898s 56 2. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m20.969s + 0.071s 34 3. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m21.110s + 0.212s 43 4. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m21.128s + 0.230s 49 5. Daniel Morad Addax 1m21.189s + 0.291s 40 6. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m21.204s + 0.306s 27 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m21.254s + 0.356s 32 8. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m21.254s + 0.356s 37 9. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m21.341s + 0.443s 42 10. Matias Laine Manor 1m21.405s + 0.507s 39 11. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m21.408s + 0.510s 41 12. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m21.464s + 0.566s 44 13. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m21.464s + 0.566s 33 14. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m21.548s + 0.650s 35 15. Bruno Mendez Addax 1m21.549s + 0.651s 38 16. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m21.671s + 0.773s 40 17. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m21.680s + 0.782s 48 18. James Calado ART 1m21.735s + 0.837s 47 19. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m21.797s + 0.899s 46 20. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m21.808s + 0.910s 43 21. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m21.861s + 0.963s 45 22. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m21.938s + 1.040s 47 23. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m21.951s + 1.053s 38 24. Pedro Nunes ART 1m21.955s + 1.057s 40 25. Doru Sechelariu Tech 1 1m21.967s + 1.069s 32 26. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m22.003s + 1.105s 48 27. Conor Daly Carlin 1m22.225s + 1.327s 37 28. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m22.267s + 1.369s 46 29. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m22.371s + 1.473s 39 30. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1m22.560s + 1.662s 51
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