Friday 10 April 2015

2015 GP3 Pre-Season Test (Valencia) Day 2

Palou continues to impress


Any doubts people had about Alex Palou's ability have been blown out of the water, as the driver leaves Valencia as the fastest man. Despite only coming 3rd in EuroFormula Open last year, he has outperformed the drivers he lost the championship to, as well as the favourites for the title.

Friday proved to be warmer than Thursday meaning the cars were able to use their tyres more and set quicker times. So, unlike yesterday, most of the times were set in the first hour, with Palou and then Kirchhofer breaking the 1 minute 21 second barrier. Ocon would be the only other driver to break that time barrier. Most of the teams decided to focus on race simulations or qualifying runs so pace was varied throughout the morning session.

Eriksson was the one setting the pace in the afternoon session as the pace picked up, but many chose to focus on long run pace instead of quick laps. The pace picked up in the final hour, but any chance of the cars getting into a rhythm was interrupted with 2 red flags from Kirchhofer, then Parry stopping out on track. When it was restarted, Varhaug and Gilbert moved to the top of the time sheets at the end of the session.

The final test will be at Barcelona on the 22nd and 23rd of April.

Results:


Pos.
Driver
Nat.
Team
Morning
Afternoon
1
Pal Varhaug
SUI
Jenzer Motorsport
1:21.384
1:21.719
2
Mitchell Gilbert
AUS
Carlin
1:21.810
1:22.021
3
Kevin Korjus
EST
Koiranen GP
1:21.144 [4]
1:22.064
4
Jimmy Eriksson
SWE
Koiranen GP
1:21.215
1:22.086
5
Seb Morris
GBR
Status Grand Prix
1:21.874
1:22.222
6
Oscar Tunjo
COL
Trident
1:21.425
1:22.258
7
Antonio Fuoco
ITA
Carlin
1:21.443
1:22.263
8
Matthew Parry
GBR
Koiranen GP
1:21.382
1:22.281
9
Kevin Ceccon
ITA
Arden International
1:22.118
1:22.316
10
Alex Fontana
SUI
Status Grand Prix
1:21.618
1:22.332
11
Zaid Ashkanani
KUW
Campos Racing
1:21.727
1:22.383
12
Emil Bernstorff
GBR
Arden International
1:21.591
1:22.393
13
Matheo Tuscher
SUI
Jenzer Motorsport
1:21.165 [5]
1:22.551
14
Sandy Stuvik
THA
Status Grand Prix
1:21.598
1:22.683
15
Esteban Ocon
FRA
ART Grand Prix
1:20.980 [3]
1:23.199
16
Luca Ghiotto
ITA
Trident
1:21.424
1:23.275
17
Samin Gomez
VEN
Campos Racing
1:23.414
1:23.486
18
Marvin Kirchhöfer
GER
ART Grand Prix
1:20.892 [2]
1:23.618
19
Alex Palou
ESP
Campos Racing
1:20.880 [1]
1:23.705
20
Artur Janosz
POL
Trident
1:22.671
1:23.821
21
Ralph Boschung
SUI
Jenzer Motorsport
1:21.343
1:23.983
22
Aleksander Bosak
POL
Arden International
1:22.770
1:24.169
23
Jann Mardenborough
GBR
Carlin
1:21.588
1:24.433
24
Alfonso Celis. Jr
MEX
ART Grand Prix
1:21.324
1:24.522
The Positions are the results of the Afternoon Session
[1] – Position in Morning Session (only top 5 shown)

What have we learned

The biggest news remains Palou's pace, while it might be down to his experience of the track over his raw speed. You would have thought that others would have caught up by the second day. All Palou did was extend his gap. We've also seen the pace of Samin Gomez. The slow pace suggests that she may have not done enough to secure the one remaining seat. However, only time will tell.

-|RacingRecaps|-

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