Probably my favourite GP3 car was/is the GP3/13: the looks, the sound, the fact it was tested by Kimi Raikkonen! Doesn’t get better than that. It had skirts, high nose (nowadays they can’t lower it enough! meh!), excellent track presence. You name it. Everything just seemed right with the world for a change in F1 supporting series.

Champions include Kvyat, Lynn and Ocon, all big names.

AER naturally aspirated engine sang a lovely tune, I must confess turbos are not my cup of tea. First generation car had its moments, it did sound dull however, Conor Daly quite accurately described it to us as “lawnmower”.

I first came into contact with the beast in early November 2012, it had a mixture of black carbon and painted in official GP3 colours test panels on, driven by GP3’s newly crowbed champion Mitch Evans, what a great bloke! Awesome combination.

GP3 boffins could be seen working on the car in a separate dedicated exclusively to the GP3/13 garage, engine warm-up blew me away straight away. Jizz-in-your pants experience.

I love testing, it may be boring for some, but surely not for me. You can pick up on the whole fine tuning process, the car comes to life.

It’s a religious act in many ways.

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