Seasoned GP2 Series aces Pastor Maldonado, Andreas Zuber and Luca Filippi again demonstrated the value of experience on the third day of testing at Paul Ricard, but further down the timesheets it was the presence of the category's first-ever female racer that really caught the eye.

Having switched from iSport International to ART Grand Prix, Maldonado showed few ill-effects from the collar bone-breaking training incident that had ruled the Monaco race-winner out of the final four rounds of the 2007 campaign, by searing to the fastest time in the afternoon. Having trailed Zuber by a scant 0.013s in the morning session, the Venezuelan would later turn the tables on his rival by storming to the top of the standings.

Zuber – who has run with a different team on every day of the test – eventually wound up fifth on his first outing for FMS International, behind an impressive Mike Conway (Minardi Piquet Sports), Luca Filippi (Racing Engineering) and Conway's countryman and Minardi Piquet Sports 'team-mate' Ben Hanley, the World Series by Renault front-runner also sealing the honour of being the top rookie on his first full day's testing. The two Brits proved evenly-matched as both ran in the top five all day long.

Borja Garcia was a consistent sixth for championship-winning squad iSport International, with Vitaly Petrov seventh for Campos Grand Prix, Karun Chandhok eighth in his DPR machine, Marcos Martinez ninth for Racing Engineering and DAMS' Giedo van der Garde rounding out the top ten at the close of proceedings.

Particular attention, though, was focused elsewhere in the pit-lane at Campos Grand Prix, as Simona De Silvestro became the first female ever to take part in an official GP2 session. The Swiss Champ Car Atlantic star acquitted herself well in her new surroundings, posting a fastest lap time of 1m 15.049s to wind up 22nd of the 26 drivers present, just 1.5 seconds adrift of her team-mate for the afternoon, Valencia feature race-winner Petrov.

Zuber and Filippi will team up together at Super Nova on Friday, the final day of testing at the southern French circuit. More significantly still, the day will mark the last time that the base car with which the series was launched back in 2005 and subsequently developed over the past three years will be driven in Europe before the new GP2/08 debuts, as well as the final chance for drivers to impress before testing gets underway for the GP2 Asia Series.


Morning times – 01/11/07:

1. Andreas Zuber FMS International 1m 13.153s
2. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1m 13.166s
3. Luca Filippi Racing Engineering 1m 13.311s
4. Ben Hanley Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.460s
5. Mike Conway Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.543s
6. Borja Garcia iSport International 1m 13.548s
7. Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1m 13.660s
8. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova International 1m 13.813s
9. Dani Clos BCN Competicion 1m 13.980s
10. Marcos Martinez Racing Engineering 1m 13.984s
11. Karun Chandhok DPR 1m 13.992s
12. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1m 14.090s
13. Chris Van der Drift Trident Racing 1m 14.153s
14. Celso Miguez Durango 1m 14.351s
15. Adrian Zaugg DPR 1m 14.417s
16. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1m 14.435s
17. Giedo Van Der Garde DAMS 1m 14.437s
18. Adam Khan Arden International 1m 14.602s
19. Davide Rigon FMS International 1m 14.603s
20. Yelmer Buurman ART Grand Prix 1m 14.929s
21. Maximo Cortez Campos Grand Prix 1m 14.986s
22. Stephen Jelley Super Nova International 1m 15.007s
23. Vladimr Arabadzhiev BCN Competicion 1m 15.472s
24. Recardo Bruins Choi Arden International 1m 15.829s
25. German Sancez Campos Grand Prix 1m 16.107s
26. Giacomo Piccini Durango 1m 16.562s


Afternoon times – 01/11/07:

1. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1m 13.094s
2. Mike Conway Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.203s
3. Luca Filippi Racing Engineering 1m 13.226s
4. Ben Hanley Minardi Piquet Sports 1m 13.236s
5. Andreas Zuber FMS International 1m 13.367s
6. Borja Garcia iSport International 1m 13.415s
7. Vitaly Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1m 13.586s
8. Karun Chandhok DPR 1m 13.615s
9. Marcos Martinez Racing Engineering 1m 13.638s
10. Giedo Van Der Garde DAMS 1m 13.724s
11. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1m 13.759s
12. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova International 1m 13.809s
13. Yelmer Buurman ART Grand Prix 1m 13.831s
14. Adrian Zaugg DPR 1m 13.852s
15. Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1m 13.899s
16. Michael Herck Trident Racing 1m 14.149s
17. Celso Miguez Durango 1m 14.291s
18. Dani Clos BCN Competicion 1m 14.327s
19. Davide Rigon FMS International 1m 14.477s
20. Adam Khan Arden International 1m 14.627s
21. Giacomo Piccini Durango 1m 14.876s
22. Simona De Silvestro Campos Grand Prix 1m 15.049s
23. Recardo Bruins Choi Arden International 1m 15.170s
24. Chris Van Der Drift Trident Racing 1m 15.230s
25. Stephen Jelley Super Nova International 1m 15.320s
26. Vladimir Arabadzhiev BCN Competicion 1m 15.472s