Esteban Gutierrez dominated the final day of GP3 Series pre-season testing today, the Mexican posting a best time of 1:37.467.

After early rain the session started on a drying track with teams initially opting for wet weather tyres. However, the thirty young drivers didn't allow the weather to dampen their spirits as they all continued relentlessly pushing their cars to find the limit. Unfortunately for some drivers this also meant finding either the gravel traps or tyre walls resulting in a slightly stop-start morning session.

As the track dried and drivers were able to go out on fresh slicks the lap times rapidly dropped. ART Grand Prix's Gutierrez matched his best time from yesterday almost exactly, and Michael Christensen took second spot for MW Arden after posting his best time of the test so far. Renger van der Zande finished the session in third spot for RSC Mucke improving on his best position yesterday with a time of 1:37.666. Pal Varhaug bounced back from his off yesterday to put in an impressive performance for Jenzer Motorsport finishing in fourth spot: the 19-year-old's highest placing in a GP3 test to date. James Jakes rounded out the top five for Manor with a time of 1:37.885.

Gutierrez's ART teammate Alexander Rossi ended the morning in sixth place, closely followed by top Status GP driver Daniel Morad. Eighth place driver was Nico Muller for Jenzer Motorsport putting two of the team's cars in the top ten. Ninth was yesterday afternoon's second place man Miki Monras for MW Arden with a best time of 1:38.085.

The final driver in the top ten was Robert Wickens for Status Grand Prix. By the end of the session the top ten drivers were separated by just six tenths of a second. In total 789 laps over 2,299 miles were completed.

In the afternoon, Danish driver Michael Christensen posted the quickest time for MW Arden, just five hundredths of a second ahead of second place man Gutierrez. Continuing his strong running this week was Renger van der Zande in third spot for RSC Mucke Motorsport with a time of 1:37.913, and snapping at his heels, just one tenths behind, was Carlin driver Dean Smith. Fifth was the second MW Arden car of Miki Monras just 0.008 of a second behind Smith with a time of 1:37.926.

Eight different teams covered the top ten places, with Status GP's Daniel Morad finishing sixth, followed by Pal Varhaug for Jenzer Motorsport. Morad's teammate Robert Wickens claimed eight spot just ahead of Manor driver James Jakes. Rounding out the top ten was Ollie Oakes who put in a stellar performance to take Atech CRS GP's first top ten finish.

During this afternoons session the teams covered 1161 laps, bringing the grand total for two days to 3407 laps over 9,855 miles.

Julian Rouse, Team Manager MW Arden: It's obviously really positive for us to finish the last test so competitively, especially as the first event is back here so shortly. ART have been so competitive, so it feels good to finally go quicker than them at a circuit on the GP3 calendar.

Trevor Carlin, Team Principal Carlin: I'm very happy with the testing we have completed this spring. We've have three new eager drivers in the team who have done plenty of mileage to get to grips with the car, and have been steadily improving lap by lap. Although Dean Smith has been setting the bench mark for the other drivers in Barcelona, everyone is progressing, and we now have a good bank of data to compare.

As a team we still have a lot to learn to get the best out of the cars, but we are finding them responsive to change and easy for the teams and drivers to work with. Barcelona in three weeks time is going to be very exciting to watch.

Peter Muecke, Team Principal RSC Mucke Motorsport: Over the last three GP3 tests in Paul Ricard and Barcelona we have been working to a meticulous testing program, and have been able to define a good basic setup which works well for our drivers. It is very positive to have a brand new car with such few problems. The GP3 organisers and suppliers have done a brilliant job in the season lead up to give teams such a good car, and solve any teething problems in a short time.

All of the GP3 teams are well prepared for the first event, and we think that it is going to be a close competition between teams and drivers which will give everybody exciting races. There is still some work to do, but we will be ready!

Simon Cayzer, Team Manager Status Grand Prix: It's never easy to get on top of a brand new car, and the first test days we worked heavily on reliability. Then during the second half of the last Paul Ricard test and here at Barcelona we've worked on performance, and found big areas of improvement.

ART Grand Prix look strong in all track conditions, but drivers and teams have been testing with different fuel levels and set-ups, so it's not until qualifying at the Spanish GP that we will truly all know where we stand. What's a clear factor, though, is that there are 30 very equal and competitive cars out there, and there will be multiple stoppages in sessions - there's a going to be a great skill in finding a clear lap to set a time, and the fact that some front-runners will sometimes be unlucky is going to mix up the grids and make the racing even more exciting.