Dino Zamparelli topped the timesheets on the official pre-season test taking place during the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Media Day. Eighteen drivers took to the Silverstone National circuit in front of the gathered media and times were incredibly close throughout the day, with the top ten split by just 1.024 seconds at the end.
Zamparelli, running with Antel Motorsport, set the quickest time on day one of the series' last official test at Croft and once again showed his championship credentials at Silverstone, finishing fastest in three of the days four sessions. The Bristol teenager set a best time of 55.432s around the 1.64-mile track.
His closest rival was once again Archie Hamilton, the Fortec Motorsport driver setting the fastest time in session two before ending the day just 0.322s behind Zamparelli. Hillspeed's Sean Walkinshaw was unable to attend the day due to school exams, so James Theodore took his place and he finished third fastest, 0.495s off the top.
Fourth quickest and the top rookie once again was Scorpio Motorsport's Hector Hurst. Running in the top four most the day, the Hampshire-based driver set his fastest time of 56.089s in the day's opening session. Just 0.006s further back was Hillspeed's latest signing Howard Fuller, with Spaniard Victor Jimenez rounding off the top six for Fortec Motorsport.
Many of the drivers new to the championship found the test extremely useful as they got more track time ahead of the new season, with Antel Motorsport's Callum Bowyer, Mtech Lite's James Thorp, MGR Motorsport's Matt Mason and Hillspeed's Zaamin Jaffer amongst those who impressed on the day.
Speaking at the end of the day, Zamparelli said: “Today was a good session and both Archie [Hamilton] and I got good runs on new tyres so these times are hopefully a good representation of r pace. We'll probably do a few more tests between now and the opening rounds but so far I'm pleased with how things have gone.”
Combined Classification – Silverstone National – 18/03/2011
| Pos | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Diff |
| 1 | 8 | Dino Zamparelli | Antel Motorsport | 55.432 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Archie Hamilton | Fortec Motorsport | 55.754 | 0.322 | 0.322 |
| 3 | 99 | James Theodore | Hillspeed | 55.927 | 0.495 | 0.173 |
| 4 | 35 | Hector Hurst | Scorpio Motorsport | 56.089 | 0.657 | 0.162 |
| 5 | 1 | Howard Fuller | Hillspeed | 56.095 | 0.663 | 0.006 |
| 6 | 25 | Victor Jimenez | Fortec Motorsport | 56.223 | 0.791 | 0.128 |
| 7 | 7 | Callum Bowyer | Antel Motorsport | 56.235 | 0.803 | 0.012 |
| 8 | 18 | Steve Durrant | RPD Motorsport | 56.291 | 0.859 | 0.056 |
| 9 | 36 | James Thorp | Mtech Lite | 56.371 | 0.939 | 0.080 |
| 10 | 9 | Zaamin Jaffer | Hillspeed | 56.456 | 1.024 | 0.085 |
| 11 | 14 | Matt Mason | MGR Motorsport | 56.659 | 1.227 | 0.203 |
| 12 | 55 | Ivan Taranov | Team Daytona | 56.723 | 1.291 | 0.064 |
| 13 | 23 | Russell Danzey | MGR Motorsport | 56.820 | 1.388 | 0.097 |
| 14 | 28 | Andrew Jarman | SWB Motorsport | 56.878 | 1.446 | 0.058 |
| 15 | 26 | Macaulay Walsh | SWB Motorsport | 56.915 | 1.483 | 0.037 |
| 16 | 29 | Raoul Owens | SWB Motorsport | 57.302 | 1.870 | 0.387 |
| 17 | 27 | Jack Dex | SWB Motorsport | 57.827 | 2.395 | 0.525 |
| 18 | 17 | Tom Walker | JWA Racing | 58.352 | 2.920 | 0.525 |
