Campos Racing’s Leonardo Pulcini topped the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, Spain, setting a 1:32.785 lap in the final stages of the afternoon session to head ART Grand Prix pair Callum Ilott and Nikita Mazepin.
Pulcini ends Day 1 of Barcelona test on top
Alessio Lorandi kicked off proceedings at the start of the day to beat Trident teammate Ryan Tveter on track, with MP Motorsport pair Dorian Boccolacci and Will Palmer sandwiching Giuliano Alesi (Trident) on their first visits to the circuit. The teams conducted a series of installation laps, coming across portions of the circuit covered in dirt from the previous weekend’s racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The opening half of the session welcomed little running as a result, before ART broke the stalemate with Ilott joining the circuit on a set of installation tyres which use was extended to the entire morning session. The rest of the field followed shortly behind. David Beckmann of Jenzer Motorsport was the first to commit to a series of slick tyre laps, hammering the pace down as far as the 1m36s track.
With twenty minutes remaining, MP and Jenzer sent their respective drivers on slocks, immediately trading places at the top of the timesheets. Boccolacci, Kari and Calderon all spent spells at the top in the final fifteen minutes, with the Frenchman ending the flurry of runs with first place.
The final five minutes included a planned Virtual Safety Car systems test which neutralised any further decrease in laptimes, leaving Boccolacci on top by the end of the morning session. Calderon edged clear of Kari, as Juan Manuel Correa (Jenzer) edged past Palmer in the last ten minutes for fourth.
Pulcini led a late Campos Racing surge on slicks, taking sixth to head early hotlapper Beckmann, as Simo Laaksonen and Diego Menchaca completed the Spanish team’s presence in the top 10. Anthoine Hubert, who did not set a representative time on dry tyres, was tenth.
As a result of the lack of running in the morning’s session, the afternoon slot was extended by an hour from 2pm to 6pm. Kari was first on track after lunch, leading Hubert onto the circuit as ART, MP and Arden International threw all of their cars out of the pits at the start of the session.
The ART trio of Hubert, Ilott and Jake Hughes began to swap places at the top of the timing boards, coming under fire from Boccolacci before Hughes became the first man to break into the 1m32s laptimes. Hubert brought out the first red flag of the afternoon just before the two-and-a-half hour mark, going off at turn 3 and collecting the barrier.
After his car was cleared from the circuit, Lorandi got the session back underway at the restart. There was originally little improvement in times at the top in the final hour as the majority of the field focused on race simulations, although Pulcini briefly threatened to top Hughes.
A quick flurry of fast times pockmarked the final half-hour, as Ilott returned to head the timesheets and teammate Nikita Mazepin broke into second place shortly after. With five minutes left on the clock, Pulcini strung together a late fastest lap to overhaul the ART drivers, ending the first day on top of the standings ahead of Ilott, Mazepin and Hughes.
Trident pair Alesi and Pedro Piquet set late laps to stand fifth and sixth ahead of Hubert, as Beckmann grabbed eighth. Morning leader Boccolacci ended the day in ninth place, with teammate Kari completing the top half of the field.
The second day of testing will begin tomorrow at 9am, breaking for one hour at 12pm. The afternoon’s running will take place from 1pm until 4pm, concluding the GP3 Series pre-season tests.
GP3 Pre-season Test: Barcelona, Spain – Day 1 Morning Session
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Time
|
Laps
|
|
|
1
|
Dorian Boccolacci
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:34.964
|
20
|
|
2
|
Tatiana Calderon
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:35.241
|
21
|
|
3
|
Niko Kari
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:35.567
|
20
|
|
4
|
Juan Manuel Correa
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:35.806
|
17
|
|
5
|
Will Palmer
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:36.679
|
21
|
|
6
|
Leonardo Pulcini
|
Campos Racing
|
1:36.692
|
17
|
|
7
|
David Beckmann
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:36.945
|
20
|
|
8
|
Simo Laaksonen
|
Campos Racing
|
1:37.618
|
15
|
|
9
|
Diego Menchaca
|
Campos Racing
|
1:40.113
|
16
|
|
10
|
Anthoine Hubert
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:43.650
|
24
|
|
11
|
Jake Hughes
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:44.814
|
24
|
|
12
|
Alessio Lorandi
|
Trident
|
1:45.337
|
21
|
|
13
|
Nikita Mazepin
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:45.491
|
20
|
|
14
|
Callum Ilott
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:46.167
|
19
|
|
15
|
Joey Mawson
|
Arden International
|
1:47.578
|
19
|
|
16
|
Gabriel Aubry
|
Arden International
|
1:47.771
|
22
|
|
17
|
Pedro Piquet
|
Trident
|
1:50.917
|
14
|
|
18
|
Ryan Tveter
|
Trident
|
1:51.413
|
13
|
|
19
|
Giuliano Alesi
|
Trident
|
1:52.526
|
18
|
|
20
|
Julien Falchero
|
Arden International
|
1:52.674
|
22
|
GP3 Pre-season Test: Barcelona, Spain – Day 1 Afternoon Session
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Time
|
Laps
|
|
|
1
|
Leonardo Pulcini
|
Campos Racing
|
1:32.785
|
42
|
|
2
|
Callum Ilott
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.797
|
63
|
|
3
|
Nikita Mazepin
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.848
|
59
|
|
4
|
Jake Hughes
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.971
|
58
|
|
5
|
Giuliano Alesi
|
Trident
|
1:33.014
|
33
|
|
6
|
Pedro Piquet
|
Trident
|
1:33.039
|
43
|
|
7
|
Anthoine Hubert
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:33.337
|
38
|
|
8
|
David Beckmann
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:33.387
|
29
|
|
9
|
Dorian Boccolacci
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:33.483
|
53
|
|
10
|
Niko Kari
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:33.652
|
65
|
|
11
|
Simo Laaksonen
|
Campos Racing
|
1:33.749
|
44
|
|
12
|
Tatiana Calderon
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:33.803
|
35
|
|
13
|
Will Palmer
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:33.898
|
44
|
|
14
|
Julien Falchero
|
Arden International
|
1:34.063
|
44
|
|
15
|
Ryan Tveter
|
Trident
|
1:34.116
|
49
|
|
16
|
Juan Manuel Correa
|
Jenzer Motorsport
|
1:34.139
|
37
|
|
17
|
Gabriel Aubry
|
Arden International
|
1:34.313
|
60
|
|
18
|
Diego Menchaca
|
Campos Racing
|
1:34.603
|
57
|
|
19
|
Joey Mawson
|
Arden International
|
1:35.239
|
48
|
|
20
|
Alessio Lorandi
|
Trident
|
1:35.254
|
13
|
Press release GP3
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