2015 GP3 Pre-Season Test (Barcelona) Day 2

And the Curtain Closes on Pre-Season Testing

Pal Varhaug topped the Morning and Afternoon sessions

The final day of pre-season testing comes to a close. This gives teams to finalise their cars and drivers before the first round in Spain.

Report
 
It was a sunny start to the day as the cars streamed onto the track. Varhaug had taken an early lead in front of home driver, Alex Palou. Varhaug stepped up his game after an hour and managed to drop into the 1 minute 34 seconds. While Ashkanani had a poor session stopping twice on track.

It had started to calm down towards the end of the session as the teams decided to focus on pit stop practice. Despite this, Fuoco wanted to prove a point by going second. However; as the session drew to a close, it became obvious that no one was going to beat the Jenzer drivers time.

The afternoon session got underway, as the Jenzer's continued to dominate. Boschung at the top was soon displaced by his teammate. But even as the Arden drivers picked up speed and positions, they were unable to beat Varhaug's time.

Being the final session, many of the teams worked on some much needed long run pace. The signs looked good for Arden and Jenzer, but with Trident, Carlin and Status at the back, it may be a disappointing season for some if that pace is representative. This left Varhaug to top both session on a day he'll be happy with.



That's it, the cars have been tested and evaluated. There's nothing more the teams can do. So perhaps it is quite fitting that GP3's "elder statesman" Pal Varhaug leads them away as they prepare for the first race of the season on the 9th May.


Conclusions from Testing

While many expected Carlin and ART Grand Prix to remain at the front, the sessions have been quite open, meaning that it is hard to tell who has the upper hand.

Palou will leave the tests as the surprise driver, having performed in a number of sessions. For a driver that finished 3rd in EuroSeries, he has outperformed, not only his title rivals from 2014, but also his critics and the cars expecations. The only negative he'll take away is his strained neck, but this is likely to heal in 2 weeks.

While their performance has often been sporadic. In general, Carlin have struggled. This could be a serious problem for Mardenborough and Fuoco, who are likely championship contendors. While Jenzer have done much better, with Boschung going through a mini revolution in results.

There is still one seat left, but with Samin Gomez having taken it in the last two tests, it seems more than likely that the spot will remain.

So, who is championship favourite?

Ocon, Kirchhofer, Fuoco, Bernstorff, Eriksson are still the drivers with the experience and ability. But team performance could help drivers like, Varhaug, Boschung, Parry and Palou to fight for a title that may have seemed out of reach at the start.

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