17-year-old Felipe Nasr was the surprising chart topper in British Formula Three testing ahead of the fifth race weekend of the season at Rockingham.
Driving for Raikkonen-Robertson the Brazilian emerged fastest in the second of the three sessions, lapping the 1.94mile International circuit in 1:13.247 in the morning session. The youngster, who lies twelfth in the overall standings, led the normal suspects in terms of drivers and teams, Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar four hundredths behind (1:13.283) in second and James Calado third nearly two tenths further behind.
Nasr also led the final session of the day, the only track time in the afternoon, this time with Carlin man Calado in second, though neither were able to improve on their times from the morning sessions.
Oli Webb was third in the final session for Fortec Motorsport – the only front runner to improve from the morning, his time of 1:13.762 putting him tenth fastest overall as he tries to bounce back from a disappointing weekend at Hockenheim
Nasr's Double-R teammate Daisuke Nakajima was fourth fastest overall, Daniel McKenzie fifth of Fortec and championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne sixth fastest in a trio separated by 0.005 seconds.
In the National Class Menasheh Idafar won the battle of T-Sport, pacing teammate James Cole in every one of the three sessions. Like those in the premier, International, class both drivers set their fastest times in the morning session, Idafar eclipsing Cole by nearly a second – 1:14.065 compared to 1:14.904.
Lap times were several seconds off the pace of March's pre-season test, the gusting winds around the track blamed by many, Nasr describing how “every lap it felt different on the straight.”
This weekend's races at Rockingham offer something a little different for the Formula Three field. The first race of the three-race event will be held on Saturday, with a further two on Sunday. The morning race will be the series first compulsory pit-stop race, with a 40-minute feature race on Sunday afternoon closing the weekend for the teams.
