Jack Aitken pocketed the pole position in the GP3 season opener in dominant style, after an amazing performance by the whole Art Gran Prix team, which saw three of their men will fill out the first two rows.
The Renault driver academy Briton -currently inaugurating his second year in the GP3 series- waited until the very last minute to clock an impressive 1:34.187 lap, demoting team mate Nirei Fukuzumi (1:34.358) and thrashing the Japanese lead in yesterday’s free practice.
The Art Grand Prix team stamped its authority at the Catalan track and seems to be the fittest for the 2017 season opening rounds, with George Russell slotting in fourth place on 1:34.468. The Mercedes junior driver is unabashedly challenging for podium in his GP3 debut.
As the qualifying session evolved, Dorian Boccolacci seemed to be the main threat to an all-Art GP podium, and planted his Trident in third place, just a couple of tenths of a second off the pace. Boccolacci actually owned the top spot of the standings for a good chunk of the 30’ session thanks to a 1:34.380 flying lap.
The GP3 cars being closely matched on performance in the initial stages of the season, a thrilling first race is expected, starting today at 5.15 pm. Around 20 emerging talents will be fighting over 22 laps at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the battleground of the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA PIRELLI 2017.