Dallara 'Formulino' (Italian for 'little formula'). Photo: Dallara
After months of careful development, the new GP3 car, with its Dallara chassis and 2.0 litre turbocharged Renault engine, was put through its paces for the first time today (30th June 2009) at La Castellet in the South of France.
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been working on launching a new Gp3 championship for over a year now. The feeder series will sit on the ladder to the pinnacle of international motorsport, one rung below GP2 and it will go head-to-head with the established Formula 3, which is run by the FIA.
Since its inception in 2005, GP2 has supplied F1 teams with a crop of new talent, like reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Junior, Timo Glock and Sebastien Buemi, and GP3 should smooth the transition from the lower levels of motorsport to international racing.
The session at La Castellet marked the first performance and reliability test of the Dallara chassis/Renault engine/Pirelli tyre combination. Current GP2 championship leader Romain Grosjean had the honour of being the first to get behind the wheel of the new GP3 car and he was impressed.
“I’m very glad to have had this first taste of the GP3 car,” said Grosjean. “We have had a productive day with very few small problems and many good surprises, namely in terms of speed. I have been impressed by the level of reliability of the car for a first run.”
He added; “The level of downforce is already quite impressive, although we still need to determine which one will be used. Compared to a F3, the acceleration is better and speed in fast corners is similar.”
The paddle shift on the steering wheel is also a great addition to a car that will definitely prepare GP3 drivers to step into the next category: GP2,” he said.
GP3 Series Organiser, Bruno Michel was also pleased with the progress made during the shakedown. He said; “The GP3 Series is well on track and the development is on time. Today’s successful test run showed our car’s strong potential, and we gathered enough data to keep improving the performance and the reliability of the GP3 car.”
“We are carefully assessing the costs of a season in our new Series: we will communicate them over the coming weeks to the many teams from all around the motor racing world that have already expressed their interest in this new Series,” said Michel.
The entry selection will take place in September and the first official test session for all GP3 teams will be organised for March next year.
