Niederhauser ends GP3 test on top

Patric Niederhauser ended official post-season GP3 Series testing with the fastest time of the week at Yas Marina on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Swiss, who was driving for MW Arden for the third and final day of the test, was second fastest during the morning session, but found over half a second in the afternoon to end the day with a 1m55.372s time. That marker, which was 0.185sec quicker than ART's Oliver Rowland, was also the fastest time of the entire test.

Niederhauser, who finished 13th in this year's GP3 points, had driven for Jenzer and ART on the previous two days and always featured in the top-three times.

Rowland, who topped Wednesday's running, was quickest during the morning, but ended up second, a spot ahead of fellow Briton, Dean Stoneman, of Koiranen.

Jimmy Eriksson and Melville McKee completed the top five for ART and Manor, respectively, while MW Arden pair Jann Mardenborough and Emil Bernstorff were next up.

ART's Lotus F1 junior driver Alex Fontana and Status duo Nick Cassidy and Jack Hawksworth completed the top 10, with very few drivers failing to improve their times in the afternoon session. Ginetta racer David Pittard, who was driving for Carlin as his prize for winning the recent Henry Surtees Karting Challenge, was 23rd overall.

There were two red flags during the day, both caused by spins for Jenzer's Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum.