Nigel Melker's best laptime of 1:34.747 set during the final morning session at Circuito de Jerezwent unbeaten in the afternoon as post-season testing ended bringing the 2010 season officially to aclose.
A total of thirty-seven of the most promising young driver talents around the globe took part in thethree-day test in Spain this week, all with an eye to snapping up one of the thirty coveted raceseats next season. There were no new faces for this final day, but there was some more seatswapping: most notably Rio Haryanto was back at ART Grand Prix, Alexander Sims was behind thewheel of the #4 Status GP car, Antonio Felix da Costa and Conor Daly joined Callum Macleod atCarlin and finally Miki Monras headed to Tech 1 Racing.
The GP3 seasoned drivers were back in business during the morning, dominating the top fivepositions in the session. RSC Mücke Motorsports Melker lead for the duration of the morning andfinished just 0.211 seconds ahead of MW Ardens Michael Christensen. The top twenty-three driverswere separated by less than one second showing how close the competition is between the racers.After making the switch to Addax Team for the final day of testing, Roberto Merhi had a strongsession in third spot, and Christensens teammate Simon Trummer was fourth. Jenzers Nico Müllerwas fifth ahead of ART Grand Prixs James Calado. Carlos Sainz Jnr, Carlos Munoz, Sims and TamasPal Kiss rounded out the top ten.
The final afternoon session was dominated by Christensen in his #22 MW Arden car. The Dutch driverclaimed the top spot straight out the pits, and the rest of the field were unable to respond. Theresult marked the end of an extremely strong test for Red Bull Formula One driver Mark Webbersteam, who finished the 2010 season in seventh spot. The team has topped the times in four out ofthe six sessions this week. Haryanto was the second quickest driver of the afternoon for GP3 SeriesTeams Champions ART Grand Prix, and Sims was third quickest for Status GP. Christensensteammates Trummer and Matias Laine filled the next spots putting all three MW Arden cars in thetop five.
Once again the reliability of the GP3 car has been exceptional during all three days of the test. Thethirty cars have completed 6332 laps between them, totalling 28,038 kilometres.The GP3 Series teams will now be taking a well earned break from running until they return in theNew Year for pre-season testing.
Morning session times:
POS DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIMES GAP
1 10 Nigel MELKER RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 37 1:34.747 ----2 22 Michael CHRISTENSEN MW ARDEN 27 1:34.958 0.2113 19 Roberto MERHI ADDAX TEAM 29 1:34.980 0.233: 4 21 Simon TRUMMER MW ARDEN 31 1:35.020 0.2735 25 Nico MULLER JENZER MOTORSPORT 34 1:35.036 0.2896 1 James CALADO ART GRAND PRIX 39 1:35.073 0.3267 17 Carlos SAINZ Jr ADDAX TEAM 41 1:35.073 0.3268 11 Carlos MUÑOZ RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 40 1:35.131 0.3849 4 Alexander SIMS STATUS GRAND PRIX 39 1:35.161 0.41410 31 Tamas P’AL KISS ATECH CRS GP 33 1:35.188 0.44111 8 Robin FRIJNS MANOR RACING 29 1:35.283 0.53612 12 Willi STEINDL RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 52 1:35.285 0.53813 15 Antonio F. DA COSTA CARLIN 36 1:35.326 0.57914 7 Adrien TAMBAY MANOR RACING 38 1:35.395 0.64815 14 Callum MACLEOD CARLIN 36 1:35.475 0.72816 23 Marlon STOCKINGER JENZER MOTORSPORT 47 1:35.508 0.76117 9 Thomas HYLKEMA MANOR RACING 35 1:35.545 0.79818 20 Matias LAINE MW ARDEN 31 1:35.562 0.81519 27 Arthur PIC TECH 1 RACING 49 1:35.611 0.86420 5 Leonardo CORDEIRO STATUS GRAND PRIX 50 1:35.644 0.89721 26 Aaro VAINIO TECH 1 RACING 51 1:35.690 0.94322 29 Nick YELLOLY ATECH CRS GP 45 1:35.715 0.96823 24 Juan C. SISTOS JENZER MOTORSPORT 42 1:35.733 0.98624 30 Albert COSTA ATECH CRS GP 40 1:35.829 1.08225 28 Miki MONRAS TECH 1 RACING 41 1:35.846 1.09926 2 Rio HARYANTO ART GRAND PRIX 26 1:35.865 1.11827 3 Pedro NUNES ART GRAND PRIX 36 1:35.904 1.15728 6 Facu REGALIA STATUS GRAND PRIX 33 1:36.066 1.31929 16 Conor DALY CARLIN 44 1:36.160 1.41330 18 Vittorio GHIRELLI ADDAX TEAM 39 1:36.576 1.829
Afternoon session times: POS DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIMES GAP 1 22 Michael CHRISTENSEN MW ARDEN 18 1:35.509 ----2 2 Rio HARYANTO ART GRAND PRIX 31 1:36.255 0.7463 4 Alexander SIMS STATUS GRAND PRIX 26 1:36.337 0.8284 21 Simon TRUMMER MW ARDEN 33 1:36.343 0.8345 20 Matias LAINE MW ARDEN 34 1:36.394 0.885: 6 7 Adrien TAMBAY MANOR RACING 37 1:36.402 0.8937 25 Nico MULLER JENZER MOTORSPORT 26 1:36.441 0.9328 27 Arthur PIC TECH 1 RACING 37 1:36.537 1.0289 11 Carlos MUÑOZ RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 33 1:36.537 1.02810 6 Facu REGALIA STATUS GRAND PRIX 30 1:36.593 1.08411 15 Antonio F. DA COSTA CARLIN 36 1:36.609 0,00112 19 Roberto MERHI ADDAX TEAM 28 1:36.699 0,00113 1 James CALADO ART GRAND PRIX 29 1:36.700 1.19114 8 Robin FRIJNS MANOR RACING 29 1:36.722 1.21315 12 Willi STEINDL RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 46 1:36.827 1.31816 17 Carlos SAINZ Jr ADDAX TEAM 19 1:36.838 1.32917 31 Tamas P’AL KISS ATECH CRS GP 19 1:36.857 1.34818 14 Callum MACLEOD CARLIN 36 1:36.866 1.35719 30 Albert COSTA ATECH CRS GP 18 1:37.001 1.49220 16 Conor DALY CARLIN 36 1:37.023 1.51421 10 Nigel MELKER RSC MÜCKE MOTORSPORT 21 1:37.024 1.51522 3 Pedro NUNES ART GRAND PRIX 28 1:37.079 0,00223 9 Thomas HYLKEMA MANOR RACING 40 1:37.108 1.59924 24 Juan C. SISTOS JENZER MOTORSPORT 40 1:37.157 1.64825 28 Miki MONRAS TECH 1 RACING 40 1:37.194 1.68526 26 Aaro VAINIO TECH 1 RACING 31 1:37.212 1.70327 29 Nick YELLOLY ATECH CRS GP 14 1:37.229 0,00228 23 Marlon STOCKINGER JENZER MOTORSPORT 30 1:37.460 1.95129 5 Leonardo CORDEIRO STATUS GRAND PRIX 25 1:37.489 0,00230 18 Vittorio GHIRELLI ADDAX TEAM 29 1:37.589 0,002
