Carlin’s British Formula 3 entrants locked out the top 5 on Wednesday during one of the few remaining official test sessions of the 2011 season at the Silverstone circuit.
Danish driver Kevin Magnussen topped the time-sheets overall ahead of current championship runner-up Carlos Huertas and recently crowned 2011 champion, Felipe Nasr. British F3 rookie Jack Harvey set the 4th fastest time ahead of Jazeman Jaafar in what was a dominant day for the Carlin team. Nasr’s formidable run to becoming champion well in advance of the final rounds, also makes him the 4th consecutive Carlin driver to take the British Formula 3 title, behind Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Jaime Alguersuari.
The momentum however, lay with Magnussen who took his 6th win of the season in the wet at Donington Park on the previous weekend. Setting his fastest time in the first of three sessions that day, his time was enough to stay ahead of his team-mates, though Carlos Huertas – whom Magnussen lies only 1 point behind in the championship – came within 0.044s of the Dane during the same morning session.
“It was a really good day,” Magnussen said. “We got some great results with everything we tried so I know we have good pace going into Silverstone. I like the circuit a lot and have been here a few times before so I'm feeling confident for the final rounds of the season.”
William Buller was the highest non-Carlin runner, setting the 6th fastest time for Fortec. Pietro Fantin was 7th overall, whilst New Zealander and GP3 regular Mitch Evans made a solid Formula 3 debut as the quickest Double R driver in 8th.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook was 9th fastest with Scott Pye rounding out the top 10 – all of whom was covered by just under 1 second.
Official testing times, Silverstone / 28/09/2011
Championship class
1 Kevin MAGNUSSEN / DEN, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.433s
2 Carlos HUERTAS / COL, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.447s
3 Felipe NASR / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.593s
4 Jack HARVEY / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.869s
5 Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.935s
6 William BULLER /GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 54.984s
7 Pietro FANTIN / BRA, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 55.009s
8 Mitch EVANS / NZL, Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 55.171s
9 Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 55.240s
10 Scott PYE / AUS, Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 55.406s etc
Rookie class
1 Kotaro SAKURAI / JPN, Hitech Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 59.000s
Full TSL timesheets
The 2011 Cooper Tyres British Formula 3 Series concludes at Silverstone on the 7th-9th October.
