The Briton finished the practice on top, way ahead from his rivals. Bernstorff was second and Yelloly was third.
The GP3 Series made its debut at Red Bull Ring this afternoon. Although it was a new addition to the calendar, several drivers already raced in other formulas at the famous Austrian track, which was a bit tricky to drive due to cold weather conditions and the rain that fell during the Formula 1 and GP2 sessions.
The practice had to be red-flagged with 26 minutes remaining, when De Beer made contact with the wall in the main straight after running wide on the kerb of the last corner. This made the drivers finish their first stints earlier than expected, although many of them were able to complete eight laps before the red flag came out.
As usual, the times were close and the top 12 drivers were covered by one second. The bigger improvements came in the closing stages of the session, when the grip were improving and the track conditions were better than in the beginning of the practice.
Lynn was the quickest and dominated almost the entire session. The current championship leader set a time of 1:20.538 that was half a second faster than his closest rivals. The Briton was the only driver that could break the 1:20 barrier and he is already one of the favourites for the pole position tomorrow morning.
In second place finished his teammate at Carlin, Bernstorff. The fellow countryman was 0.5s off the pace and set consistent lap times, so he could make a good impression in qualifying and the race tomorrow.
Very close to Bernstorff finished another Briton, Yelloly. The Status GP driver was only 0.007s slower than his countryman and with consistency he should be able to fight for the pole position and get a good result in the race.
The top 5 was completed by two surprising drivers. The Uruguayan Urrutia finished fourth, 0.749s off the pace, but he started the weekend way better than he did at Barcelona, where he couldn’t get into the top 10 in any of the races. Agostini, who joined Hilmer in this round, was fifth.
Results:
Pos. | Car | Driver | Team | Nation | Laps | Time | Gap | |
1 | 10 | Alex Lynn | R | Carlin | GBR | 22 | 1:20,538 | |
2 | 11 | Emil Bernstorff | R | Carlin | GBR | 22 | 1:21,125 | + 0,587 |
3 | 26 | Nick Yelloly | Status Grand Prix | GBR | 21 | 1:21,132 | + 0,594 | |
4 | 9 | Santiago Urrutia | R | Koiranen GP | URG | 18 | 1:21,287 | + 0,749 |
5 | 19 | Riccardo Agostini | R | Hilmer Motorsport | ITA | 20 | 1:21,351 | + 0,813 |
6 | 18 | Nelson Mason | R | Hilmer Motorsport | CAN | 23 | 1:21,371 | + 0,833 |
7 | 14 | Patrick Kujala | Marussia Manor Racing | FIN | 22 | 1:21,39 | + 0,852 | |
8 | 4 | Robert Visoiu | Arden International | ROM | 21 | 1:21,411 | + 0,873 | |
9 | 28 | Alfonso Celis Jr. | R | Status Grand Prix | MEX | 22 | 1:21,46 | + 0,922 |
10 | 3 | Dino Zamparelli | ART Grand Prix | GBR | 20 | 1:21,473 | + 0,935 | |
11 | 21 | Mathéo Tuscher | R | Jenzer Motorsport | CHE | 19 | 1:21,481 | + 0,943 |
12 | 16 | Dean Stoneman | Marussia Manor Racing | GBR | 22 | 1:21,497 | + 0,959 | |
13 | 2 | Marvin Kirchhöfer | R | ART Grand Prix | GER | 20 | 1:21,548 | + 1,01 |
14 | 5 | Patric Neiderhauser | Arden International | CHE | 22 | 1:21,658 | + 1,12 | |
15 | 6 | Jan Mardenborough | Arden International | GBR | 21 | 1:21,905 | + 1,367 | |
16 | 27 | Richie stanaway | Status Grand Prix | NZL | 19 | 1:21,952 | + 1,414 | |
17 | 1 | Alex Fontana | ART Grand Prix | CHE | 19 | 1:21,953 | + 1,415 | |
18 | 12 | Luis Sá Silva | Carlin | ANG | 22 | 1:22,026 | + 1,488 | |
19 | 20 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | NOR | 20 | 1:22,269 | + 1,731 | |
20 | 22 | Adderly Fong | Jenzer Motorsport | CHI | 22 | 1:22,295 | + 1,757 | |
21 | 8 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | SWE | 18 | 1:23,021 | + 2,483 | |
22 | 17 | Nikolay Martsenko | R | Hilmer Motorsport | RUS | 20 | 1:23,403 | + 2,865 |
23 | 15 | Ryan Cullen | Marussia Manor Racing | GBR | 22 | 1:23,656 | + 3,118 | |
24 | 24 | Roman de Beer | R | Trident | RSA | 7 | 1:23,902 | + 3,364 |
25 | 23 | Victor Carbone | R | Trident | BRA | 18 | 1:24,462 | + 3,924 |
26 | 7 | Carmen Jordà | Koiranen GP | SPA | 20 | 1:24,687 | + 4,149 |