Blomqvist in Top 10 with Status GP on GP3 Series Debut
British driver Tom Blomqvist made a strong first impression during his maiden test in a GP3 Series car with the Status Grand Prix team on the first day of running at the Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuit on Wednesday (November 23).
Blomqvist, a finalist for this year's McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, showed his speed by topping the times midway through the morning session, and only bad luck prevented him from doing the same at the end of day.
Heavy overnight rain meant that a wet 2.52-mile circuit greeted Status GP's three drivers in the morning. Formula 3 Italia graduate Facu Regalia and British F3 National Class champion Kotaro Sakurai joined Blomqvist in Status GP's line-up for the Day 1 of the two-day official test.
Although the rain stayed away all day, it was not until after halfway through the morning session that the track had dried sufficiently for drivers to switch to used slick tyres. Blomqvist immediately went fastest overall by 0.7sec, and it was only when other drivers switched to new Pirelli P Zero tyres at the end of the session that the 17-year-old's time was surpassed. All three Status GP drivers elected to retain their two sets of fresh slicks for the afternoon session, leaving Blomqvist classified 10th, Regalia 16th and Sakurai 17th.
The afternoon session was curtailed early for Sakurai, back with Status GP for his second test this autumn, after a spin caused damage to his gearbox. The Japanese teenager will return to the track tomorrow with the team. Argentine driver Regalia also had problems as he found his progress impaired by an intermittent engine misfire as the afternoon progressed, affecting his final runs on new tyres so that he was left an unrepresentative 18th overall by the end of the day.
Blomqvist too found himself frustrated, with his final new-tyre run being interrupted initially by a red flag stoppage, and then traffic. On the penultimate lap he was more than 0.1sec up on the fastest time only for a brief moment at Turn 10 to cost him valuable time, and leaving him classified ninth.
Status GP returns to the circuit on Thursday, when Sakurai will be teamed with returning GP3 Series drivers Marlon Stockinger and Gabby Chaves.
Posted Date: 28th Nov 2011