ART Grand Prix driver Esteban Gutiérrez shot a warning to his rivals during today’s free practice and proved he will be one to watch at the Valencia S

The Mexican driver set the pace this afternoon claiming the top spot in the session with a time of 1:59.459 just two tenths ahead of teammate Alexander Rossi after a last gasp effort from the American shot him up the time sheets.

In the scorching Spanish heat all thirty cars took straight to the track when the lights turned green and it was MW Arden’s Michael Christensen who was quickest straight out of the blocks, however, the Dane soon found himself swapping fastest lap times with Gutierrez, Addax Team’s Felipe Guimarães and Tech 1 Racing Jean-Eric Vergne. Atech CRS GP’s new man Roberto Mehri was quick to join the fray and put in impressive lap times at his first GP3 Series event.

In the end it was Gutiérrez who triumphed. In the last stages Carlin’s Dean Smith moved up the time sheets but was just pipped by Rossi and finished third ahead of Mehri. James Jakes was fifth in his #7 Manor Racing car and early pace setter Christensen finished sixth. Carlin’s Josef Newgarden ended up 7th ahead of MW Arden’s Miki Monras, Vergne and Jenzer Motorsport’s Nico Muller rounded out the top ten.

With two minutes left in the session Addax Team’s Bortolotti stopped on the start/finish straight promoting a yellow flag just as most of the drivers were in their last attempts at a fastest lap.

Next up is qualifying, and after today’s efforts it is sure to provide entertainment on track. The action starts at 08:45 local time.

Full practice results:

POS	CAR	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	LAPS	GAP
1	2	E. GUTIERREZ	ART Grand Prix	1:59.459	11
2	1	A. ROSSI	ART Grand Prix	1:59.725	13	0.266
3	15	D. SMITH	Carlin	1:59.818	14	0.359
4	29	R. MERHI	Atech CRS GP	1:59.847	14	0.388
5	7	J. JAKES	Manor Racing	1:59.856	13	0.397
6	20	M. CHRISTENSEN	MW Arden	1:59.927	14	0.468
7	14	J. NEWGARDEN	Carlin	2:00.007	14	0.548
8	21	M. MONRAS	MW Arden	2:00.037	14	0.578
9	28	J. VERGNE	Tech 1 Racing	2:00.069	12	0.610
10	25	N. MULLER	Jenzer Motorsport	2:00.219	15	0.760
11	4	R. WICKENS	Status Grand Prix	2:00.328	13	0.869
12	27	S. COLETTI	Tech 1 Racing	2:00.357	13	0.898
13	24	S. TRUMMER	Jenzer Motorsport	2:00.486	15	1.027
14	10	N. MELKER	RSC Muecke Motorsport	2:00.514	13	1.055
15	26	D. SECHELARIU	Tech 1 Racing	2:00.518	13	1.059
16	19	M. BORTOLOTTI	Addax Team	2:00.705	12	1.246
17	17	F. GUIMARAES	Addax Team	2:00.709	13	1.250
18	9	A. QUAIFE-HOBBS	Manor Racing	2:00.714	12	1.255
19	6	D. MORAD	Status Grand Prix	2:00.737	14	1.278
20	8	R. HARYANTO	Manor Racing	2:00.774	14	1.315
21	30	O. OAKES	Atech CRS GP	2:00.850	14	1.391
22	18	P. SANCHEZ LOPEZ	Addax Team	2:00.931	13	1.472
23	16	L. FORESTI	Carlin	2:01.084	13	1.625
24	3	P. NUNES	ART Grand Prix	2:01.169	13	1.710
25	12	T. HEGEWALD	RSC Muecke Motorsport	2:01.241	13	1.782
26	23	P. VARHAUG	Jenzer Motorsport	2:01.492	14	2.033
27	11	R. VAN DER ZANDE	RSC Muecke Motorsport	2:01.506	12	2.047
28	5	I. LUKASHEVICH	Status Grand Prix	2:01.889	15	2.430
29	31	V. GHIRELLI	Atech CRS GP	2:02.039	14	2.580
30	22	L. CORDEIRO	MW Arden	2:02.223	14	2.764