Indians Abroad

Maini tops 1st session in Barcelona: GP3 2nd test

Barcelona, 19 April 2017: Arjun Maini has set the bar for the second GP3 Series pre-season test by topping the timesheets this morning at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, with the Indian grabbing the top spot late in a session which started with rain and ended on a fully dry track with a laptime of 1:34.163, just three tenths faster than Niko Kari and Santino Ferrucci.

The session opened to unexpectedly cold and wet conditions, and although all drivers were straight out for installations there was no meani

Arjun Maini at second Test at barcelona Pic by Zak Mauger/GP3 Media Service (1).jpg Image added on 20 April 2017 from second day action.

ngful running, with the ART quartet the only drivers to set laptimes, and well off the regular pace. Anthoine Hubert led the way at the one hour mark, with teammate George Russell taking over at the halfway mark, but it was only around the second hour that drivers were switching to slicks and setting competitive times, with Nirei Fukuzumi taking over on top of the timesheets.

The field made up for lost time in the final hour, with Kari setting the pace with 45 minutes remaining on 1:35.367, with Ferrucci slotting into P2 briefly before being displaced by Fukuzumi just seconds before the American grabbed the top spot by two tenths. The Japanese driver struck back with half an hour remaining, breaking the 35s barrier with a 1:34.761, ahead of Leonardo Pulcini and Ferrucci, but with ten minutes to go Maini grabbed the top spot by half a second, and then went even quicker with 5 minutes remaining to secure the top of the timesheets.

With the times tumbling late in the session not everyone had time to respond: 8 drivers are within 1 second of Maini’s time, and all bar one are within 2 seconds. There will be time for a further answer when the teams return to their pits after lunch, in two hours’ time.

Day 1 Morning results

Driver Team Laptime Laps
1 Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport 1:34.163 24
2 Niko Kari Arden International 1:34.522 23
3 Santino Ferrucci DAMS 1:34.651 16
4 Nirei Fukuzumi ART Grand Prix 1:34.761 45
5 Leonardo Pulcini Arden International 1:34.828 19
6 Raoul Hyman Campos Racing 1:34.877 18
7 Dorian Boccolacci Trident 1:34.929 12
8 Giuliano Alesi Trident 1:35.146 13
9 Alessio Lorandi Jenzer Motorsport 1:35.173 16
10 Marcos Siebert Campos Racing 1:35.249 19
11 Kevin Joerg Trident 1:35.261 14
12 Steijn Schothorst Arden International 1:35.330 19
13 Anthoine Hubert ART Grand Prix 1:35.379 45
14 Julien Falchero Campos Racing 1:35.407 25
15 Tatiana Calderon DAMS 1:35.415 17
16 Bruno Baptista DAMS 1:35.639 17
17 Jack Aitken ART Grand Prix 1:35.748 41
18 George Russell ART Grand Prix 1:36.094 40
19 Ryan Tveter Trident 1:36.545 12

eom/Source: www.GP3series.com

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