After a close competition at the head of the field yesterday, Linus Lundqvist seemed far more controlled on Friday as the BRDC British F3 Championship gears up for its third round at Snetterton.
The Swede topped the third of the days four sessions with a time of 1min 44.347. Notably, this was exactly six tenths of a second slower than his benchmark from Thursday, as the lap would only have been good enough for 6th place. This may show that many of the front-runners are not prepared to show their full hand, as Hillspeed surprised many punters with their pace today, with Sasakorn Chaimongkol topped the final session.
Rain greeted the drivers in the early hours, with Tom Gamble setting the best lap of the session narrowly ahead of a charging Lundqvist. The Double R Racing driver would again finish second during a drier second hour, though this time it was Kush Maini who found himself atop the times, having not made an appearance on the damp track.
Practice 2 proved to be the closest of the day with the top twelve separated by 0.7 seconds. Lundqvist would hit back in the early afternoon though, beating Maini’s time by 0.404 seconds. It was more surprising as the majority of the front-runners failed to improve upon their morning times with Sasakorn Chaimongkol ending up second.
As the day drew to a close it was clear the teams were not giving much away. Chaimongkol would top the timesheets ahead of Maini and Lundqvist, but it was Josuf Owega and Tristan Charpentier in fourth and fifth respectively that caught many people’s attention.
Overall Lundqvist remained on top ahead of Maini and Nicolai Kjaergaard, as the three drivers look to be the favourites going into the weekend. Behind them Charpentier led Chaimongkol and Billy Monger who made it six nationalities in as many spaces. Krishnaraaj Mahadik and Manuel Maldonado completed the top eight.
Elsewhere, Jordan Cane had a torrid day, failing to set a lap time in first or second practice, especially troubling considering he was second overall yesterday. It wasn’t a good day for many of his British compatriots either as Jamie Chadwick finished one from last behind Cane, while race winner Gamble was only tenth overall.
Snetterton will also be a true test of the MSV‘s new format for Race 2, in which drivers not only get points for their finishing positions but also how many places they gained, with the circuit famously difficult to overtake at in previous year.
The weather is looking clear for the next two days, ensuring the wet testing times may not be representative for much of the field.
