Double New Zealand grand prix champion Nick Cassidy made a stunning start to his testing at GP3 level in Spain today.
The 18-year-old Aucklander topped the morning session and was third fastest in the afternoon in Barcelona.
Cassidy is on trial with Marussia Manor Racing and clearly looked comfortable in the new powered-up GP3 car.
He got through 21 laps in the morning and, despite damp conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya, he recorded a fastest lap of 1m 34.924s – the best of the 27 drivers involved in the session.
Cassidy improved that time to 1m 34.715s as he got through 23 laps in the afternoon, but the pace stepped up with American Conor Daly recording the fastest time of the day with 1m 34.578s.
Daly’s time represented a 3.5s increase on the bets lap set last year, an illustration of the new power these cars have been given.
Cassidy, who has won the last two Toyota Racing Series titles in New Zealand, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Aucklander Mitch Evans who spent two years in GP3, being crowned champion last year.
Evans has now stepped up to GP2, one level below Formula One.
