Status GPs Robert Wickens improved on his performance yesterday morning by posting the fastest laptime during the afternoon's test session at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
The session was dry and bright providing ideal conditions for the thirty young drivers. Wickens ledthe pack posting a time of 1:27.881, the Canadian snatching the top spot in the dying minutes of thesession on fresh rubber. The Status driver was quickly followed by Tech 1 Racing's Jean Eric Vergne,the Frenchman making a triumphant return to the Series finishing in second. In third spot was ARTGrand Prix's Esteban Gutierrez, the Mexican posting a time of 1:28.163. Fourth was RSC MuckeMotorsport's Nigel Melker followed by Manor's James Jakes. Jenzer Motorsport's Simon Trummerfinished the session in sixth spot and an impressive performance by Tech 1 Racing's Doru Sechelariusaw the young Romanian take seventh spot. Eighth was Carlins Dean Smith, ninth Addax Team'sFelipe Guimaraes, and rounding out the top ten was Jenzer Motorsport's Nico Muller.
The session was marred by a splattering of red flags. GP3 new guy Emmanuel Piget stop on track inhis #27 Tech 1 Racing car early in the session, whilst his teammate Jean Eric Vergne caused thesecond red flag of the afternoon by stopping in the pit lane exit. The third and final red flag wascaused by a spinning Lucas Foresti in his #16 Carlin car.
A total of 2037 laps were completed during the first day of testing.
Robert Wickens, Status Grand Prix: "Overall went really well. We had hardly any mechanical issuesand any we did just needed a quick fix and we were back on track so we got through our test plan.We were just trying new different things and I think we are already ahead of the game. Reliabilitywas also very good today."
Jen-Eric Vergne, Tech 1 Racing: "We worked a lot today on the car and it's much better than thismorning but we still have a lot to work to do. It's especially great for the team, they work hard andits the first time we have been P2. This morning was difficult because we had a couple of problemswhich meant we couldnt make the most of the new tyres, but overall it's a positive day. We cannow use tomorrow to prepare for the race next week"
Esteban Gutierrez, ART Grand Prix: "The morning session we were testing a few different thingsand the conditions changed a lot from the morning to the afternoon and we didn't really get a lot ofrunning this morning. It was a really positive day. We werent the quickest, but it's not always likethis and we are using the test to try different things and improve the car in the long term and forthe race next week back in Valencia."
The test resumes at 09:00 am local time today.
