Niederhauser fastest as GP3 kicks off

Patric Niederhauser set the fastest time in the 45-minute free practice session for the opening round of the new-look GP3 Series season at Barcelona. Although the second-generation GP3 uses the same chassis as its predecessor, it now features a throaty 3.4-litre AER V6 engine producing 400bhp. Niederhauser, a two-time GP3 race-winner in the old machine, lapped the Circuit de Catalunya in 1m35.044s, almost three and a half seconds quicker than the fastest previous race weekend lap set by Mitch Evans in 2011, whose pole time back then was 1m38.498s

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