Michael Christensen quickest on final day at Silverstone

RSC MÃ¼cke Motorsport’s Michael Christensen was the quickest man on track today, after setting the best time of 1:51.799 on the final day of 2011 official GP3 Series testing at Silverstone Circuit.

As per the past two mornings, the teams were greeted by wet and windy weather at the British track. Pedro Nunes was the first man to complete a lap for Lotus ART, but from the outset there were a number of red flags breaking up proceedings as the young drivers once again got to grips with the tricky conditions. Alexander Sims, Conor Daly and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs all shared the top spot in the wet, but as the track started to dry and the times dropped, Valtteri Bottas moved ahead – the Finn from Lotus ART recovering well from an earlier incident.

It wasn’t until the dying minutes of the morning that teams could start sending their drivers out on slick tires, resulting in a shootout for the top spot. It was Lewis Williamson and Addax Team’s Gabby Chaves who battled it out to take the honors, and after swapping quickest lap times, it was Brit who triumphed for MW Arden.

The afternoon finally provided a much longed-for dry and sunny, albeit very windy session. It was a quiet start with the drivers making the most of the dry weather to put down some mileage. Within the first hour, Williamson was back on top in his #28 machine, followed by Jenzer’s Nico MÃ¼ller and Lotus ART’s James Calado.

At mid-session, it was Status GP’s Alexander Sims who was planted firmly at the top of the timing sheet, before Christensen took the reins in his #30 RSC MÃ¼cke Motorsport car. He posted a lap time of 1:51.799, and despite an inevitable last minute shootout on new rubber, the Dane had done enough to keep him at the top, rounding out a successful day for the MÃ¼cke driver. Sims was second quickest in his #4 Status car ahead of MÃ¼ller, rookie Mitch Evans and Rio Haryanto. This morning’s quickest man, Williamson, finished in sixth.

GP3 Series will be back on track April 12-13-14 for the final pre-season test in Barcelona.

Morning times:

POS	NO	NAME	NAT	ENTRY	TIME	LAPS
1	28	Lewis WILLIAMSON	GBR	MW Arden	1:52.963	23
2	24	Gabby CHAVES	USA	Addax Team	1:53.073	29
3	30	Michael CHRISTENSEN	DEN	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:53.176	32
4	26	Mitch EVANS	NZL	MW Arden	1:53.581	32
5	14	Conor DALY	USA	Carlin	1:53.934	38
6	31	Nigel MELKER	NED	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:53.943	38
7	27	Simon TRUMMER	SUI	MW Arden	1:54.023	37
8	12	Matias LAINE	FIN	Marussia Manor Racing	1:54.119	29
9	15	Tom DILLMANN	FRA	Carlin	1:54.392	28
10	10	Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS	GBR	Marussia Manor Racing	1:54.659	35
11	5	Antonio Felix Da COSTA	POR	Status Grand Prix	1:54.801	37
12	2	Valtteri BOTTAS	FIN	Lotus ART	1:54.922	19
13	8	Maxim ZIMIN	RUS	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.070	34
14	9	Vittorio GHIRELLI	ITA	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.074	41
15	3	James CALADO	GBR	Lotus ART	1:55.149	35
16	4	Alexander SIMS	GBR	Status Grand Prix	1:55.385	36
17	17	Aaro VAINIO	FIN	Tech 1 Racing	1:55.406	24
18	25	Simon MOSS	RSA	Addax Team	1:55.913	41
19	19	Tamas PAL KISS	HUN	Tech 1 Racing	1:55.948	28
20	7	Nico MULLER	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.979	41
21	11	Rio HARYANTO	INA	Marussia Manor Racing	1:56.056	33
22	6	Ivan LUKASHEVICH	RUS	Status Grand Prix	1:56.166	33
23	1	Pedro NUNES	BRA	Lotus ART	1:56.275	29
24	18	Andrea CALDARELLI	ITA	Tech 1 Racing	1:56.352	38
25	21	Nick YELLOLY	GBR	Atech CRS GP	1:56.399	19
26	22	Zoel AMBERG	SUI	Atech CRS GP	1:56.654	34
27	29	Willi STEINDL	AUT	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:56.832	32
28	20	Marlon STOCKINGER	PHI	Atech CRS GP	1:57.132	9
29	23	Thomas HYLKEMA	NED	Addax Team	2:13.738	10
30	16	Kotaro SAKURAI	JPN	Carlin	2:14.291	19

Afternoon times:

POS	NO	NAME	NAT	ENTRY	TIME	LAPS
1	30	Michael CHRISTENSEN	DEN	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:51.799	47
2	4	Alexander SIMS	GBR	Status Grand Prix	1:51.868	41
3	7	Nico MULLER	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:51.967	41
4	26	Mitch EVANS	NZL	MW Arden	1:51.973	33
5	11	Rio HARYANTO	INA	Marussia Manor Racing	1:52.018	42
6	28	Lewis WILLIAMSON	GBR	MW Arden	1:52.063	39
7	27	Simon TRUMMER	SUI	MW Arden	1:52.077	43
8	19	Tamas PAL KISS	HUN	Tech 1 Racing	1:52.147	33
9	18	Andrea CALDARELLI	ITA	Tech 1 Racing	1:52.176	42
10	5	Antonio Felix Da COSTA	POR	Status Grand Prix	1:52.219	34
11	2	Valtteri BOTTAS	FIN	Lotus ART	1:52.249	41
12	12	Matias LAINE	FIN	Marussia Manor Racing	1:52.413	34
13	24	Gabby CHAVES	USA	Addax Team	1:52.484	32
14	29	Willi STEINDL	AUT	RSC Mucke Motorsport	1:52.539	39
15	17	Aaro VAINIO	FIN	Tech 1 Racing	1:52.597	38
16	3	James CALADO	GBR	Lotus ART	1:52.608	41
17	20	Marlon STOCKINGER	PHI	Atech CRS GP	1:52.816	29
18	21	Nick YELLOLY	GBR	Atech CRS GP	1:52.821	30
19	10	Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS	GBR	Marussia Manor Racing	1:52.955	17
20	15	Tom DILLMANN	FRA	Carlin	1:52.969	42
21	8	Maxim ZIMIN	RUS	Jenzer Motorsport	1:52.980	42
22	6	Ivan LUKASHEVICH	RUS	Status Grand Prix	1:53.053	48
23	14	Conor DALY	USA	Carlin	1:53.153	40
24	22	Zoel AMBERG	SUI	Atech CRS GP	1:53.227	39
25	1	Pedro NUNES	BRA	Lotus ART	1:53.750	18
26	9	Vittorio GHIRELLI	ITA	Jenzer Motorsport	1:53.850	39
27	25	Simon MOSS	RSA	Addax Team	1:54.223	31
28	16	Kotaro SAKURAI	JPN	Carlin	1:54.330	35