Formula Renault BARCOpen Wheel

Zamparelli Quickest At Silverstone

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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
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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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