The new GP3 car development resumed at Paul Ricard this week After  a  successful  shakedown  two  weeks  ago,  the  development  of  the  new  GP3  car  continued this  week  with  a  two-day  test  session  at Le Castellet in the South of France.

 The first day was mainly dedicated to engine performance and implementing measures while the second day was focused on tyre testing. Once   again,   Frenchman   and   GP2   racer   Romain   Grosjean   took   the   wheel   of   the   GP3 development car. He completed 61 laps on day two on a 3D configuration track without problem. “I am very glad that I can pursue this development task. Once more, I have been impressed by the reliability and the overall performance of this new car.

“The  completed  programme  has  given  us  enough  data  to  prepare  the  next  step.  There  is  still some work to be done, mainly regarding understanding the tyres even better, but we are definitely working in the right direction. The GP3 car is already safe, fast and reliable.”

Technical director Didier Perrin explained: “After a trouble-free first day, we could really work on the performance of the car in race conditions. We started with a qualifying session followed by a race  simulation.  It  was  a  fruitful  session:  a  satisfying  set  up  of  the  car  now  enables  us  to  start working on tyre testing with Pirelli. “Our next step is to calibrate the performance of our car compared to a F3, our benchmark. As we will be testing at an extremely demanding track for the tyres, it will help us understand better how to use the compounds to their fullest.”