Hillspeed’s Freddie Slater posted the quickest lap of the day in the brand new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car, as official pre-season testing got underway at a sunny Snetterton.
The British driver set a 1m40.568s in the last of four sessions held during the first day in Norfolk, seven tenths of a second ahead of the official lap record for the GB3 Championship.
Times at the top were close across the day, with Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic next up, just 0.046s away from Slater, with the Australian’s best effort also coming in session four.
Deagen Fairclough had set the pace in the first two sessions for Hitech, with his best time coming in session two, while reigning F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling was fourth quickest overall for Rodin, and less than four tenths of a second away from Slater’s best.
The second Hitech car of Keanu Al Azhari was 0.012s further back in fifth, and like teammate Fairclough, set his best lap in the morning, while Xcel Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was the driver to beat in session three, with the Australian’s time in that test enough to put him sixth overall.
Argenti by Prema’s Lucas Fluxa was seventh courtesy of his final session effort, and within three quarters of a second of Slater at the top.
Noah Lisle, eyeing a GB3 seat with JHR Developments, was eighth, a tenth of a second clear of the lead Elite Motorsport runner of Will Macintyre, with Xcel’s Jack Sherwood completing the top-10, covered by just over a second, at the end of day one.
A total of 19 brand new cars ran during the day, completing a total of 1,169 laps in three hours of running, showcasing the impressive reliability on offer from the new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 cars.
Testing resumes tomorrow with four more 45-minute sessions.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Snetterton test day one combined result:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 1m40.568s
2. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, +0.046s
3. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, +0.162s
4. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +0.394s
5. Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech, +0.406s
6. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport, +0.620s
7. Lucas Fluxa, Argenti with Prema, +0.746s
8. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +0.825s
9. Will Macintyre, Elite Motorsport, +0.962s
10. Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport, +1.013s
11. Gianmarco Pradel, Hillspeed, +1.126s
12. Yuanpu Cui, Argenti with Prema, +1.219s
13. Kai Daryanani, JHR Developments, +1.270s
14. James Higgins, Fortec Motorsport, +1.325s
15. Hunter Yeany, VRD Racing, +1.617s
16. Stefan Bostandjiev, Fortec Motorsport, +2.083s
17. Leandro Juncos, Chris Dittmann Racing, +2.209s
18. Bianca Bustamante, Elite Motorsport, +2.360s
19. Finn Harrison, Chris Dittmann Racing, +2.875s