Dillmann tops GP3 practice

Fresh off the back of their pole position in the GP2 Series, Addax Team snatched the top spot with Dillmann in what was a closely fought second and final free practice session at the Valencia Street Circuit. The Frenchman’s time of 1:58.969 was just 0.060 seconds quicker than second place man James Calado for Lotus ART, with the top twenty-one drivers separated by less than a second.

The session got underway once again in hot conditions as the drivers battled it out straight out the pits. MW Arden’s Simon Trummer, Lotus ART’s Valtteri Bottas, Carlin’s Daniel Morad and RSC MÃ¼cke Motorsport’s Michael Christensen all took turns at the top of the timesheet, but it was MW Arden’s Mitch Evans who set the early pace and kept hold of the top spot.

As the session entered its second half, Evans was holding firm at the top, and the rest of the field set about trying to beat the New Zealanders’ time. Aaro Vainio made an early charge moving up into second spot, but was soon bumped back down the timesheet by the Lotus ART duo of Bottas and Calado.

As the session drew to a close, Dillmann was up into third behind Evans and Bottas, but it was Calado who was the first to find enough time to snatch the top spot from the Kiwi driver, only to be promptly knocked off by teammate Bottas. The times were improving throughout the field, but it was Dillmann who took the honors. The Frenchman finished ahead of Calado, Bottas, Smith, Evans, Vainio, Ivan Lukashevich who finished in his best position so far this season for Status GP, Morad, Lewis Williamson and Nico Muller.

GP3 Series will be back on track tomorrow for qualifying at 12:25 local time.

Full practice 2 times:

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	TIME	LAPS	GAP
1	23	T. DILLMANN	FRA	Addax Team	1:58.969	14	0.000s
2	3	J. CALADO	GBR	Lotus ART	1:59.029	13	0.060
3	2	V. BOTTAS	FIN	Lotus ART	1:59.050	12	0.081
4	25	D. SMITH	GBR	Addax Team	1:59.151	14	0.182
5	26	M. EVANS	NZL	MW Arden	1:59.202	13	0.233
6	17	A. VAINIO	FIN	Tech 1 Racing	1:59.242	14	0.273
7	6	I. LUKASHEVICH	RUS	Status Grand Prix	1:59.287	13	0.318
8	15	D. MORAD	CAN	Carlin	1:59.345	13	0.376
9	28	L. WILLIAMSON	GBR	MW Arden	1:59.407	14	0.438
10	7	N. MULLER	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:59.441	14	0.472
11	10	A. QUAIFE-HOBBS	GBR	Marussia Manor Racing	1:59.503	13	0.534
12	30	M. CHRISTENSEN	DEN	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:59.550	12	0.581
13	4	A. SIMS	GBR	Status Grand Prix	1:59.614	13	0.645
14	27	S. TRUMMER	SUI	MW Arden	1:59.615	13	0.646
15	24	G. CHAVES	COL	Addax Team	1:59.640	13	0.671
16	12	M. LAINE	FIN	Marussia Manor Racing	1:59.699	14	0.730
17	1	P. NUNES	BRA	Lotus ART	1:59.751	13	0.782
18	5	A. FELIX DA COSTA	POR	Status Grand Prix	1:59.757	13	0.788
19	16	L. CORDEIRO	BRA	Carlin	1:59.868	14	0.899
20	31	N. MELKER	NED	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:59.914	14	0.945
21	19	T. PAL KISS	HUN	Tech 1 Racing	1:59.954	14	0.985
22	14	C. DALY	USA	Carlin	1:59.973	14	1.004
23	20	M. STOCKINGER	PHI	Atech CRS GP	1:59.974	13	1.005
24	11	R. HARYANTO	INA	Marussia Manor Racing	2:00.060	14	1.091
25	22	Z. AMBERG	SUI	Atech CRS GP	2:00.177	14	1.208
26	9	V. GHIRELLI	ITA	Jenzer Motorsport	2:00.339	14	1.370
27	29	L. BACHETA	GBR	RSC Mucke Motorsport	2:00.381	13	1.412
28	8	M. ZIMIN	RUS	Jenzer Motorsport	2:00.383	13	1.414
29	21	N. YELLOLY	GBR	Atech CRS GP	2:00.618	14	1.649
30	18	T. HYLKEMA	NED	Tech 1 Racing	2:00.827	13	1.858