Swiss driver Patric Niederhauser took first blood in the opening session at Barcelona with a laptime of 1:35.044 which broke the previous track record by over three seconds. Trident’s David Fumanelli and Jenzer Motorsport’s Alex Fontana finished second and third.

The opening round of the 2013 GP3 Series got underway today at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona with the eagerly anticipated second generation car. Menacing dark clouds hovered over half of the circuit with sunshine looming in the pitlane as free practice begun, signifying the start of the fourth season of the Series.
The sound of the twenty-seven GP3/13 cars roaring down the straight was a glorious sound. Trident’s Emanuele Zonzini was first to feed onto the track. Jack Harvey (ART Grand Prix), Tio Ellinas (Marussia Manor Racing) were the early pacesetters with Conor Daly (ART Grand Prix) and Fumanelli close in pursuit, lapping in times of 1m36s.
Rookie drivers Josh Webster (Status Grand Prix) and Patrick Kujala (Koiranen GP) both finished their session in the gravel early on, whilst MW Arden’s Daniil Kvyat flew to the top of the timesheets, clocking a best time six tenths faster than Harvey at the midway point.
With less than ten minutes on the clock Swiss Fontana grabbed P1 and further improved on his best lap on his next attempt. However, his Jenzer Motorsport teammate had other ideas and Niederhauser rose to the top of the timings and held the position until the chequered flag. Fumanelli spoiled the Jenzer Motorsport party in the dying moments to split the duo to end P2, just a mere 0.093s off Niederhauser’s best effort.
At the close of the forty-five minute practice session, Niederhauser headed the timings, with Fumanelli, Fontana, Robert Visoiu (MW Arden), Adderly Fong (Status Grand Prix), Kvyat and the Carlin duo of Nick Yelloly and Luis Sa Silva. Harvey and Zonzini completed the top ten.

Results:

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

 Patric Niederhauser

Jenzer Motorsport

1:35.044

 17

2.

 David Fumanelli

Trident

1:35.137

 17

3.

 Alex Fontana

Jenzer Motorsport

1:35.464

 17

4.

 Robert Visoiu

MW Arden

1:35.581

 15

5.

 Adderly Fong

Status Grand Prix

1:35.800

 18

6.

 Daniil Kvyat

MW Arden

1:35.810

 15

7.

 Nick Yelloly

Carlin

1:35.821

 20

8.

 Luis Sa Silva

Carlin

1:36.170

 19

9.

 Jack Harvey

ART Grand Prix

1:36.417

 17

10.

 Emanuele Zonzini

Trident

1:36.471

 17

11.

 Eric Lichtenstein

Carlin

1:36.480

 19

12.

 Conor Daly

ART Grand Prix

1:36.553

 17

13.

 Carlos Sainz Jr

MW Arden

1:36.567

 11

14.

 Tio Ellinas

Marussia Manor Racing

1:36.680

 18

15.

 Jimmy Eriksson

Status Grand Prix

1:36.951

 16

16.

 Giovanni Venturini

Trident

1:36.973

 19

17.

 Dino Zamparelli

Marussia Manor Racing

1:37.224

 19

18.

 Facu Regalia

ART Grand Prix

1:37.304

 16

19.

 Samin Gomez

Jenzer Motorsport

1:37.512

 18

20.

 Lewis Williamson

Bamboo Engineering

1:37.513

 16

21.

 Melville McKee

Bamboo Engineering

1:37.763

 21

22.

 Kevin Korjus

Koiranen GP

1:37.903

 17

23.

 Carmen Jorda

Bamboo Engineering

1:38.321

 19

24.

 Ryan Cullen

Marussia Manor Racing

1:38.582

 17

25.

 Josh Webster

Status Grand Prix

1:38.648

 4

26.

 Patrick Kujala

Koiranen GP

1:38.801

 4

27.

 Aaro Vainio

Koiranen GP

1:39.091

 20

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