A promising first run The new GP3 car had a successful first test today at Paul Ricard

The first official shakedown of the new GP3 car took place yesterrday at Le Castellet in the South of France.

After months of careful development, this session marked the first performance and the reliability  test  of  the  Dallara  chassis,  combined  with  a  Renault  4  cylinder, 2 litres turbo charged engine and Pirelli slick tyres. Under  blue  skies  and  on  the  3D  track  configuration  current  GP2  Series  championship  leader Romain Grosjean took the wheel and completed a trouble-free programme.

After the session he commented: “I’m very glad to have had this first taste of the GP3 car. We have had a productive day  with  very  few  small  problems  and  many  good  surprises,  namely  in  terms  of  speed.  I  have been impressed by the level of reliability of the car for a first run.

“This is a great car! It’s really fun to drive and the level of downforce is already quite impressive, although we still need to determine which one will be used. Compared to a F3, the acceleration is better and speed in fast corners is similar. One thing for sure: the GP3 car will be notably fast! The paddle shift on the steering wheel is also a great addition to a car that will definitely prepare GP3 drivers to step into the next category: GP2. “Now that I’ve seen and tested the competitiveness of this new car, I’m really looking forward to watching the races: they should be very interesting and fun to follow!”

GP3 Series organiser Bruno Michel said: “I am very pleased to say that the GP3 Series is well on track  and  the  development  is  on  time.  Today’s  successful  test  run  showed  our  car’s  strong potential, and we gathered enough data to keep improving the performance and the reliability of the GP3 car. “I am confident that it will become the perfect piece of machinery that will reveal a young driver’s skills while providing a safe and exciting show. Meanwhile, we are carefully assessing the costs of a season in our new Series: we will communicate them over the coming weeks to the many teams  from  all  around  the  motor  racing  world  that  have  already  expressed  their  interest  in  this new Series. As previously announced, the entry selection process will take place next September, with the first official test session for the selected teams taking place next March.”

The  GP3  Series,  intended  to  be  a  stepping-stone  into  GP2,  will  kick  off  next  year  and  will  run alongside the GP2 Series in Europe.