Jehan Daruvala ends Day 3 on top

Indian driver Jehan Daruvala
Indian driver Jehan Daruvala

Jehan Daruvala was back at the top of the timesheet in today’s post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit. The Indian driver set the quickest laptime at wheel of a Campos Racing car in both sessions.

The final day of post-season testing opened once again at 9am local time. There were some changes in the entry list: GP3 race winner David Beckmann re-joined ART Grand Prix whilst Marcus Armstrong tests with Trident after having spent Day 1 with Charouz Racing System.

German driver Lirim Zendeli returned to Charouz as Sebastian Fernandez went back to Campos Racing after testing in Formula 2 on Day 2. Finally, Dutchman Bent Viscaal can be seen today in the MP Motorsport car while a new face has joined the rest of the pack in the form of Estonian driver Juri Vips who tests with Trident.

On the third day of testing, the teams dedicated their morning program to long runs. Therefore, the classification at the top was pretty much set in the opening hour: Trident’s Logan Sargeant set the early pace in a 1:55.721, but Daruvala who has been quick all three days clocked in a laptime of 1:55.093 on the thirty minute mark. It was not bettered until the checkered flag.

Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala

The trouble-free morning session ended with Daruvala on top ahead of Sargeant, Sebastian Fernandez, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alex Peroni, Oscar Piastri, Ben Hingeley, Lorenzo Colombo, Ye Yifei and Armstrong.

The afternoon session was also pretty studious: Armstrong set the early pace, but once again, Daruvala claimed the top spot until his laptime was bettered by Honda protege Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver lapped the track in a 1:55.273 with one hour left in the session. He stayed sat pretty at the top until the dying minutes: Daruvala found some extra pace to take P1 in 1:55.090.

At the checkered flag, the Indian driver led Tsunoda, Yifei, Piastri, Colombo, Fernandez, Armstrong, Viscaal, Vips and Peroni.

This marked the very last running of the GP3 Series, a category that crowned Esteban Gutierrez, Valtteri Bottas, Mitch Evans, Daniil Kvyat, Alex Lynn, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Anthoine Hubert.

2018 Post-season testing – Day 3: morning session classification

POS

DRIVER

TEAM

TIME

LAPS

1

Jehan Daruvala

Campos Racing

1:55.093

35

2

Logan Sargeant

Trident

1:55.159

28

3

Sebastian Fernandez

Campos Racing

1:55.307

31

4

Devlin DeFrancesco

Trident

1:55.346

21

5

Alex Peroni

Campos Racing

1:55.448

23

6

Oscar Piastri

Jenzer Motorsport

1:55.511

25

7

Ben Hingeley

Charouz Racing System

1:55.604

25

8

Lorenzo Colombo

MP Motorsport

1:55.691

25

9

Ye Yifei

MP Motorsport

1:55.710

29

10

Marcus Armstrong

Trident

1:55.723

32

11

Christian Lundgaard

ART Grand Prix

1:55.806

35

12

Yuki Tsunoda

Jenzer Motorsport

1:55.829

29

13

David Beckmann

ART Grand Prix

1:55.861

32

14

Bent Viscaal

MP Motorsport

1:56.233

20

15

Maximilian Fewtrell

ART Grand Prix

1:56.261

29

16

Federico Malvestiti

Jenzer Motorsport

1:56.332

31

17

Juri Vips

Trident

1:56.365

31

18

Enaam Ahmed

ART Grand Prix

1:56.430

31

19

Fabio Scherer

Charouz Racing System

1:56.510

24

20

Lirim Zendeli

Charouz Racing System

1:56.535

34

2018 Post-season testing – Day 3: afternoon session classification

POS

DRIVER

TEAM

TIME

LAPS

1

Jehan Daruvala

Campos Racing

1:55.090

17

2

Yuki Tsunoda

Jenzer Motorsport

1:55.136

25

3

Ye Yifei

MP Motorsport

1:55.174

27

4

Oscar Piastri

Jenzer Motorsport

1:55.249

25

5

Lorenzo Colombo

MP Motorsport

1:55.269

24

6

Sebastian Fernandez

Campos Racing

1:55.290

23

7

Marcus Armstrong

Trident

1:55.313

34

8

Bent Viscaal

MP Motorsport

1:55.465

30

9

Juri Vips

Trident

1:55.544

34

10

Alex Peroni

Campos Racing

1:55.570

17

11

Ben Hingeley

Charouz Racing System

1:55.629

25

12

Logan Sargeant

Trident

1:55.675

34

13

Christian Lundgaard

ART Grand Prix

1:55.809

32

14

Maximilian Fewtrell

ART Grand Prix

1:55.815

30

15

David Beckmann

ART Grand Prix

1:55.896

30

16

Lirim Zendeli

Charouz Racing System

1:55.897

33

17

Enaam Ahmed

ART Grand Prix

1:55.914

28

18

Fabio Scherer

Charouz Racing System

1:56.119

33

19

Federico Malvestiti

Jenzer Motorsport

1:56.294

27

20

Devlin DeFrancesco

Trident

1:57.654

23

After nine incredible seasons, we bid farewell to the GP3 Series as it makes way for FIA Formula 3 in 2019. Take a look as champions past and present reminisce on what made the series so special, and how it prepared them for Formula 1.