Rupert Svendsen–Cook scopred a double pole for the Cooper Tyres British F3 International Series meeting at Brands Hatch, his best two laps faster than anyone else could offer during the 30 minute session.
The Suffolk racer came out on top of a furious final ten minutes that followed the stops to take on fresh Cooper rubber. With times tumbling the assembled Carlin team went about toppling teammate and championship leader Felipe Nasr whose lap of 1:17.823 set the pace shortly after the first ten minutes of the session.
“It's fantastic to bounce back like this after the disappointments of Snetterton last month,” said Rupert. “The car was fantastic, with really great balance, and I knew right from my first lap out on new tyres that if I could get a clear lap then pole position would be possible.”
Svendsen-Cook was his nearest challenger with Will Buller an infiltrator for Fortec Motorsport in third in the middle of a quartet of Carlin cars.
After the stops Buller's challenge to the Carlin wilted slightly, improving his time from 1:17.964 to 1:17.938, but falling to sixth place in the fastest time classification that sets the grid for race three on Sunday afternoon. His earlier lap remained as his second best time, food enough for him to start race one from fourth.
His place as the man to fight the Carlin armada was taken, unexpectedly by Sino Vision Racing's Adderly Fong. Fong scored a fourth place at Brands Hatch last season in exactly the same changeable weather conditions that threaten this weekend, and the Chinese driver was showing that his 2010 pace was not just down to the rain.
Adderly Fong set the second fastest time in a superb performance
A lap of 1:17.796 put him second fastest behind Svendsen-Cook, and out of reach of Carlos Huertas in fourth and Nasr, who failed to improve on his pre-tyre change marker. The pair will take the second row for race three, but with Fong's second best lap only good enough for seventh will start second and third for race one, Huertas ahead of Nasr.
Jazeman Jaafar will start race one from fifth on the grid (though his fastest lap is only tenth best). Lucas Foresti will start sixth for race one and fifth in race three. Foresti's Fortec teammate, Harry Tincknell, already twice a podium visitor in his debut F3 season will have to fight for points from 14th on the grid for both races set by the qualifying times.
Bart Hylkema scored pole for both races in the National Class after Kotaro Sakurai ran only four laps before spinning into the Paddock Hill Bend gravel.
