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

David Bodapati April 20, 2017

952 1 minute read

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

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