Nigel Melker emerged fastest on the final GP3 test day of 2010 at Jerez. The Mucke driver, whose promising but luckless 2010 campaign saw him twice start from pole position yet end up only 23rd in the standings, set the pace in the morning session with a 1m34.747sec lap that remained unbeaten.
MW Arden's Michael Christensen was second to Melker in the first session and quickest later on by a comfortable 0.7sec margin over Rio Haryanto, who had switched from Manor to ART for the test.
Also seat-hopping was ART's Formula 3 Euro Series driver Alexander Sims, who took third in the afternoon with Status, ahead of Arden duo Simon Trummer and Matias Laine.
Thursday pacesetter Trummer had been fourth in the morning, behind Addax driver Roberto Merhi.
Category newcomers showing good form including British F3 runner-up James Calado, who took sixth for ART in the morning, and Carlos Sainz Jr. – son of World Rally legend Carlos Sainz – who was seventh in session one with Addax.
Other GP3 newcomers appearing in the top 10 included Formula Renault frontrunners Tamas Pal Kiss (Atech CRS) and Arthur Pic (Tech 1), and ex-Formula BMW driver Facu Regalia (Status).
Session one:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Nigel Melker Mucke 1m34.747s
2. Michael Christensen MW Arden 1m34.958s + 0.211s
3. Roberto Merhi Addax 1m34.980s + 0.233s
4. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m35.020s + 0.273s
5. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m35.036s + 0.289s
6. James Calado ART 1m35.073s + 0.326s
7. Carlos Sainz Jr Addax 1m35.073s + 0.326s
8. Carlos Munoz Mucke 1m35.131s + 0.384s
9. Alexander Sims Status 1m35.161s + 0.414s
10. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS 1m35.188s + 0.441s
11. Robin Frijns Manor 1m35.283s + 0.536s
12. Willi Steindl Mucke 1m35.285s + 0.538s
13. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1m35.326s + 0.579s
14. Adrien Tambay Manor 1m35.395s + 0.648s
15. Callum Macleod Carlin 1m35.475s + 0.728s
16. Marlon Stockinger Jenzer 1m35.508s + 0.761s
17. Thomas Hylkema Manor 1m35.545s + 0.798s
18. Matias Laine MW Arden 1m35.562s + 0.815s
19. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m35.611s + 0.864s
20. Leonardo Cordeiro Status 1m35.644s + 0.897s
21. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m35.690s + 0.943s
22. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m35.715s + 0.968s
23. Juan Carlos Sistos Jenzer 1m35.733s + 0.986s
24. Albert Costa Atech CRS 1m35.829s + 1.082s
25. Miki Monras Tech 1 1m35.846s + 1.099s
26. Rio Haryanto ART 1m35.865s + 1.118s
27. Pedro Nunes ART 1m35.904s + 1.157s
28. Facu Regalia Status 1m36.066s + 1.319s
29. Conor Daly Carlin 1m36.160s + 1.413s
30. Vittorio Ghirelli Addax 1m36.576s + 1.829s
Session two:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Michael Christensen MW Arden 1m35.509s
2. Rio Haryanto ART 1m36.255s + 0.746s
3. Alexander Sims Status 1m36.337s + 0.828s
4. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m36.343s + 0.834s
5. Matias Laine MW Arden 1m36.394s + 0.885s
6. Adrien Tambay Manor 1m36.402s + 0.893s
7. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m36.441s + 0.932s
8. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m36.537s + 1.028s
9. Carlos Munoz Mucke 1m36.537s + 1.028s
10. Facu Regalia Status 1m36.593s + 1.084s
11. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1m36.609s + 1.100s
12. Roberto Merhi Addax 1m36.699s + 1.190s
13. James Calado ART 1m36.700s + 1.191s
14. Robin Frijns Manor 1m36.722s + 1.213s
15. Willi Steindl Mucke 1m36.827s + 1.318s
16. Carlos Sainz Jr Addax 1m36.838s + 1.329s
17. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS 1m36.857s + 1.348s
18. Callum Macleod Carlin 1m36.866s + 1.357s
19. Albert Costa Atech CRS 1m37.001s + 1.492s
20. Conor Daly Carlin 1m37.023s + 1.514s
21. Nigel Melker Mucke 1m37.024s + 1.515s
22. Pedro Nunes ART 1m37.079s + 1.570s
23. Thomas Hylkema Manor 1m37.108s + 1.599s
24. Juan Carlos Sistos Jenzer 1m37.157s + 1.648s
25. Miki Monras Tech 1 1m37.194s + 1.685s
26. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m37.212s + 1.703s
27. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m37.229s + 1.720s
28. Marlon Stockinger Jenzer 1m37.460s + 1.951s
29. Leonardo Cordeiro Status 1m37.489s + 1.980s
30. Vittorio Ghirelli Addax 1m37.589s + 2.080s