Nick Yelloly fastest on day one in Jerez

Nick Yelloly (Status Grand Prix) recorded the best time of the day with a 1:31.350 set in the morning session whilst Emil Bernstorff (Carlin) was top in the afternoon session.

The second official pre-season test was held at the Circuito de Jerez, Spain. This test marked the first appearance of Hilmer Motorsport, newcomers to the Series. There were also two new faces to the test: Christopher Hoher (Austrian) testing for Jenzer Motorsport and Denis Nagulin (Russia) testing for Trident.

Day one of testing opened under blue skies with very blustery conditions. The Status GP drivers of Yelloly and Richie Stanaway were first onto the circuit with the Brit holding the P1 slot early on. Alex Fontana (ART Grand Prix) and Carlin’s Alex Lynn soon jumped to the top of the timesheet until Yelloly split the pair. Koiranen GP’s Santiago Urrutia went quickest at the midway point by almost half a second before Lynn took control, improving on the Uruguayan’s best effort by over three tenths.

Nick Yelloly

Photo by: GP3 Media Service

There was a short stoppage covered by a red flag when Hoher spun. Once the action resumed, Yelloly was back on it and clocked the fastest time of the session to end the morning P1. Lynn, Urrutia, Dino Zamparelli, Marvin Kirchhofer, Stanaway, Fontana, Jann Mardenborough, Pal Varhaug and Patrick Kujala completed the top ten.

Following the two hour break, the afternoon session commenced with many drivers practising race starts whilst some teams opted for race runs. Urrutia again led the way for the beginning of the session before Kirchhofer moved to the top of the standings. A second red flag occured when Hilmer Motorsport’s Nelson Mason stopped on track.

With a flurry of activity as almost all drivers headed onto the circuit for the final thirty-five minues, Koiranen GP’s Jimmy Eriksson flew to P1 with Fontana and Adderly Fong hot in pursuit. Bernstorff then became the pace setter, with five minutes remaining the session was red flagged after Kujala stopped on track.

The session did not resume, therefore at the close of play, Bernstorff headed the timings in front of Fontana, Eriksson, Zamparelli, Pal Varhaug, Kirchhofer, Yelloly, Robert Visoiu, Mardenborough and Fong.

The schedule for Day 2 of the test sees the test commence at 09.00 - 12.00 with a one hour break. The afternoon session will begin at 13.00 and end at 16.00.

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