In a test day filled with changeable weather, Felipe Nasr topped the time sheets at Brands Hatch ahead of the fourth round of the British Formula 3 series.
The Brazilian secured a best lap of 1:17.847, heading an all-Carlin top six, with Carlos Huertas next up, two-tenths of-a-second off the pace.
Rookie Formula 3 driver, Jack Harvey took 3rd in the session. He will be hoping for more of the same this weekend – the Lincolnshire pilot currently sits 16th in the championship with only 2 points.
Harvey was one of the busier bodies in the morning, clocking up 30 laps – only Fahmi Ilyas (Fortec, 31 laps) and Bart Hylkema (T-Sport, 32 laps) circulated more often.
Jazeman Jaafar (4th), Kevin Magnussen (5th) and Rupert Svendsen-Cook (6th) completed the Carlin rout.
William Buller assumed 7th in his Fortec machine, seven-tenths shy of Nasr. Pietro Fantin (8th, Hitech), Scott Pye (9th, Double-R) and Adderly Fong (10th, Sino Vision) rounded out the top ten.
The day also saw Formula 2 drivers Max Snegirev and Miki Monras make appearances – Snegirev will be replacing Riki Christodoulou for this weekend’s race, while the latter struggles for budget.
Carlos Huertas headed the rain affected afternoon session ahead of Scot Pye (2nd) and Lucas Foresti (3rd, Fortec).
The Colombian’s best lap (1:28.747) was a clear eight-tens quicker than Pye, with the rest of the field more than 1.4 seconds slower.
Wet running made for tough running, with Fantin and T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar taking to the gravel trap on separate occasions.
As per usual, Bart Hylkema was quickest in the rookie class for both sessions.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.847s 2. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.072s + 0.225s 3. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.410s + 0.563s 4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.423s + 0.576s 5. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.484s + 0.637s 6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.501s + 0.654s 7. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m18.577s + 0.730s 8. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m18.773s + 0.926s 9. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m18.821s + 0.974s 10. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m18.924s + 1.077s 11. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m19.013s + 1.166s 12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m19.154s + 1.307s 13. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m19.518s + 1.671s 14. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m19.578s + 1.731s 15. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m19.954s + 2.107s 16. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m20.491s + 2.644s 17. Max Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW 1m20.678s + 2.831s 18. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m21.202s + 3.355s 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m21.382s + 3.535s 20. Miki Monras Hitech Dallara-VW 1m21.541s + 3.694s 21. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 1m25.438s + 7.591s
