Status Grand Prix and Alexander Sims led the way at Paul Ricard on Thursday as the French venue marked the opening 2011 pre-season test session for Formula 1 feeder series GP3. Behind the Englishman, Portuguese team-mate António Félix da Costa and Addax’s Gabby Chaves of Columbia completed the top three.
It was a mixed day for weather in France, with the session beginning with a wet track and runners then optimistic of dryer conditions following the customary hour-long lunch break, only for a further downpour to last until the final half hour.
This meant that the day’s eventual P1 time for Sims came in the morning period, with a best effort of 1:21.827 on futuristic Paul Ricard’s 3D circuit configuration.
Britain’s Lewis Williamson was first to hit the track for MW Arden, leading the way before dropping back to fourth and just ahead of the second Addax of Miki Monras by the end of the day.
Behind, Tamas Pal Kiss was sixth for Tech 1 Racing as Adrian Quaife-Hobbs for Manor, Ivan Lukashevich for Status, German Formula 3 Champion Tom Dillmann for Carlin and Vittorio Ghirelli of Jenzer rounded out the top ten.
Day 2 of 2 at Paul Ricard commences at 9am local time on Friday (GMT +1)
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| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  A. Sims | 01:21.827 | 17 |
| 2. | A. Felix da Costa | 01:21.913 | 58 |
| 3. | G. Chaves | 01:22.067 | 69 |
| 4. | L. Williamson | 01:22.221 | 68 |
| 5. | M. Monras | 01:22.375 | 64 |
| 6. | T. Kiss | 01:22.488 | 73 |
| 7. | A. Quaife-Hobbs | 01:22.870 | 69 |
| 8. | I. Lukashevich | 01:22.931 | 71 |
| 9. | T. Dillmann | 01:23.034 | 72 |
| 10. | V. Ghirelli | 01:23.180 | 60 |
| Full results | |||
| Alexander Sims | |||
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| More Alexander Sims photos | |||
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