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DATE News (chronologically)
03/13/12
gp3
 Da Costa finishes on top in Barcelona  Portuguese Antonio Felix Da Costa was fastest in the second day of testing after recording the quickest time in the morning session. His time of 1:37.934 was the fastest achieved after two test days in Catalunya. In the afternoon session Daniel Abt headed the timesheets as he repeated his form from day one.

GP3 Series pre-season testing continued for the second and final day in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya. There were just two changes to the drive line-up: Aaro Vainio for Lotus GP returned to action after missing day one and Frenchman Yann Zimmer stepped in at Status Grand Prix replacing Tom Blomqvist who tested the previous day.

Clear skies and warm temperatures greeted the paddock and it was Da Costa who set the pace in the opening thirty minutes ahead of MW Arden’s David Fumanelli. There was an early red flag when Daniel Abt stopped on track after suffering an oil leak from the engine. When the session was back underway, Matias Laine headed the top of the timesheets until Da Costa became the first man to break into the 1m37s barrier. The Finn then became the only other driver to match the pace of the Carlin man by recording a time in the 1m37s. The pair remained on top in a quiet morning session with drivers focusing on their day’s program.

Yesterday’s fastest man Mitch Evans was P3 followed by Kevin Ceccon, Marlon Stockinger and Conor Daly. The Jenzer Motorsport duo of Robert Visoiu and Patric Niederhauser were P7 and P8 with Vainio and William Buller completing the top ten.

There were two more interruptions to the session when Ethan Ringel spun off into the gravel at turn 8 and Ceccon spun at turn 1, with both incidents requiring red flags.

With hotter temperatures in the afternoon, it was Abt who bounced back from a difficult morning and claimed early control going P1 ahead of Evans and Stockinger. After one hour, there was a halt in proceedings after Ringel stopped and the session was red flagged.

The German improved on his best time to increase the gap back to Evans to 0.8s ahead of the final hour of the test. Tio Ellinas shot up to P2 in the final twenty minutes with Visoiu and Da Costa close in pursuit. With ten minutes remaining, Jenzer Motorsport’s Russian driver Maxim Zimin got within 0.2s of Abt’s fastest time of the afternoon to push the Cypriot down to P3. Vicky Piria spun at the close of the session and the red flag was brought out briefly. Tamas Pal Kiss went to P4 in the final five minutes to finish in front of Visoiu, Da Costa, Evans, Kotaro Sakurai, Stockinger and Fabiano Machado.

The third and final test will take place at Silverstone on the 11-12th April 2012 before the season commences in Barcelona in May.

Morning session

Pos Driver Team Lap time Laps
1. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:37.934 29
2. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:37.993 33
3. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:38.154 30
4. Kevin Ceccon Trident Racing 1:38.239 21
5. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:38.283 26
6. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:38.322 34
7. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:38.391 34
8. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:38.452 32
9. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:38.469 34
10. William Buller Carlin 1:38.471 40
11. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:38.542 29
12. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:38.593 26
13. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:38.603 35
14. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:38.692 32
15. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:38.955 32
16. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:38.977 34
17. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:39.129 40
18. Yann Zimmer Status Grand Prix 1:39.153 38
19. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:39.318 21
20. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:39.348 33
21. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:39.419 31
22. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:39.492 4
23. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 1:39.785 33
24. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:40.601 31
25. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:40.930 27
26. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:41.997 30


Afternoon Session*
Pos Driver Team Lap time Laps
1. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:38.760 49
2. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.027 28
3. Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor Racing 1:39.058 35
4. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS GP 1:39.321 27
5. Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.354 32
6. Antonio Felix Da Costa Carlin 1:39.379 35
7. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:39.635 42
8. Kotaro Sakurai Status Grand Prix 1:39.646 34
9. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:39.690 37
10. Fabiano Machado Marussia Manor Racing 1:39.791 37
11. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer Motorsport 1:39.946 25
12. Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:40.014 28
13. Dmitry Suranovich Marussia Manor Racing 1:40.016 37
14. William Buller Carlin 1:40.076 23
15. Matias Laine MW Arden 1:40.329 34
16. Alex Brundle Carlin 1:40.344 35
17. Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:40.638 37
18. Antonio Spavone Trident Racing 1:40.902 34
19. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:40.977 38
20. Kevin Ceccon Trident Racing 1:41.012 39
21. John Wartique Atech CRS GP 1:41.075 9
22. Robert Cregan Ocean Racing Technology 1:41.197 26
23. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS GP 1:41.582 28
24. Vicky Piria Trident Racing 1:42.192 34
25. Carmen Jorda Ocean Racing Technology 1:42.878 25

*Car 16 Yann Zimmer Status Grand Prix laptimes deleted when car was checked and found underweight.
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