Cooper Tyres British Formula 3 International Series National runner Menasheh Idafar had another noteworthy test during the opening British F3 of the 2010 campaign.
After having a solid performance on the opening day, the Formula Renault UK graduate continued to impress and looked at home in the T-Sport car. He showed his wet weather potential during the morning session before going within 0.9s of the fastest International Class time.
The 1.95 mile Snetterton track in Norfolk was completely wet at the start of the 3 hour session, however as the opening session progressed, all the teams were presented with an opportunity to bolt on some slick tyres for some dry running.
Idafar has positioned himself solidly inside the top 10 runners while the track was wet, and when the slick opportunity presented itself, Menasheh took advantage of it by posting the third quickest time overall, and top National Class runner by almost 3 seconds. Menasheh's best time during the morning was a 1m04.680, an average speed of 108.64mph.
The dry afternoon session saw the times of all the drivers tumble, and 18 year old Menasheh posted a best time of 1m03.029, an average speed of 111.49mph. This time was good enough to put him well ahead of the other National Class runners, his time being over 0.3s faster.
Overall, Menasheh finished the day 14th overall on the combined times, but within a second of the fastest International Class time, set by Raikkonen Robertson's Japanese driver Daisuke Nakajima.
Idafar aimed to improve his time on his final run, and after changing his tyres for a new set of slicks, wasn't able to get below the 1minute 03s mark after catching a small puddle at Riches.
Menasheh commented on this 2 day test, saying: “This morning was really good again and to be less than a second outside the best time of the International Class front-runners in the dry this afternoon was great. I'm really happy with how the first test has gone; I've learned a lot and made some good progress.”
The next test for Idafar will be at Rockingham on the 1st and 2nd March. The opening rounds of the season take place at Oulton Park on the 3rd and 5th April.
Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
