Rookies dominate pre-season tests

On the official days of Formula 3 Euro series testing, at Barcelona and Valencia (both Spain), teams and drivers prepared for the season kick-off that will be held at Le Castellet, France, in two and half weeks. In the tests, the rookies Carlos Muñoz (Mücke Motorsport), Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) and António Félix da Costa (Motopark Academy) succeeded in delivering in particularly impressive style.

Carlos Munoz (CO, Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F308 Mercedes) Credit: Thomas Suer/Euro F3 Series

In five of the eight sessions - each of the four days of testing comprised a morning and an afternoon session - Portugal's António Félix da Costa made it to the top-three on the time sheets, thus securing more top-five positions than anybody else. On the other hand, the reigning Northern European Formula Renault 2.0 Champion who is going to contest his maiden Formula 3 Euro Series season failed to set a fastest lap time.

In this area, Colombia's Carlos Muñoz - just as Félix da Costa a Formula Renault 2.0 driver in 2009 - proved to be the best. Three times, the racing driver residing in the UK secured the top position on the time sheets. While his lead over his closest rivals demonstrates the extreme competitiveness of this year's Formula 3 Euro Series field: in both morning sessions at Valencia, the Mücke driver was just 0.005 seconds faster than the runner-up. Once he pipped Félix da Costa and once Spain's Daniel Juncadella who had been the quickest in one of the sessions held at his hometown Barcelona. The other fastest lap times were set by rookie Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Motopark Academy), Macau winner Edoardo Mortara (Signature), Marco Wittmann (Signature) and Euro Series newcomer Laurens Vanthoor (Signature). The battle of the two engine manufacturers ended in a draw, with both Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen securing the top position on the time sheets in four sessions.

Carlos Munoz (Mücke Motorsport): "The tests ran really well, I'm truly happy with what we have achieved. I feel comfortable in the Formula 3 car and my team, Mücke Motorsport, also is just great."

António Félix da Costa (Motopark Academy): "I'm happy with the course of all the four days of testing. Altogether, I think that we succeeded in preparing really well. And the race simulation we executed at Valencia also was very good. Now the season may begin."

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