SWB Motorsport's Jack Dex set the quickest time at Silverstone during the afternoon test at the official 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Media Day.
The test around the National circuit gave the drivers their first chance to compare themselves to their rivals and it was Dex who emerged at the top the timesheets with a late lap of 55.449s, a time 0.291s faster than Josh Webster's 2011 pole time at the circuit.
Second fastest was Dex's former SWB team-mate Macaulay Walsh. Now driving with 2008 and 2009 title winning team Scorpio Motorsport, Walsh ended the afternoon just 0.095s behind Dex. Third fastest and top of the Fortec Motorsport runners was reigning Ginetta Junior Champion Seb Morris, the teenager ending up 0.250s off the top, followed closely by his Mexican team-mate Diego Menchaca, just 0.084s separating the two.
Fifth fastest for reigning champions Antel Motorsport was Ivan Taranov, the Russian finishing just ahead of fellow second year driver David Wagner. Privateer Max Robinson took a strong seventh from MGR's James Fletcher and Fortec's Martin Cao, the top nine in the timesheets split by under half a second.
American Trent Hindman took tenth for Cliff Dempsey Racing, just 0.015s ahead of team-mate Chris Middlehurst. Rookie Jake Dalton took twelfth for MGR, ahead of 2011 Formula Vee runner up Michael Epps with JWA-Avila and Antel Motorsport's Raoul Owens.
Series newcomer Louise Richardson took fifteenth for SWB Motorsport ahead of privateer Oliver Sirrell and Mtech Lite's second year driver Sean Walkinshaw. Finishing eighteenth fastest was Scorpio's Henrique Baptista, the Brazilian finishing 0.973s off the top of the timesheets after lapping the National circuit 110 times, more than any other driver.
Completing the 22 runners at the Media Day was Antel's two newcomers Tom Oliphant and Henry Chart, Fortec's Laura Tillett and JWA-Avila's Matt Tiffin.
Full timing of the Media Day Official Test can be found at: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2012/121343bfr.pdf
The 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship kicks off on April 7/8 at the Snetterton 200 Circuit in Norfolk.