Pietro Fantin secured his first poles of the British Formula 3 season on the road course at Rockingham Motor Speedway.
The Brazilian pilot jumped to the top of the time sheets with six minutes remaining in the single qualifying session, registering a best lap of 1:11.794 in his Hitech prepared Dallara.
Fantin will be leading fellow Brazilian – and Championship leader – Felipe Nasr in the opening and close events of the round.
The Carlin driver did not complete the entire thirty-minute session – feeling Fantin’s time was unattainable, Nasr pulled into the pits four minutes prior to the chequered flag.
Kevin Magnussen will lead the second row charge in both races, although the Dane will be partnered in 4th by fellow Carlin driver Jazeman Jaafar at the beginning of tomorrow’s feature race. Jack Harvey lines up 5th for race three, with Rupert Svendsen-Cook alongside.
It was an intriguing battle between the top six throughout the session, regularly swapping places until a final order was resolved.
The sixth and final Carlin runner, Carlos Huertas, will start 7th in both races, just ahead of lead Fortec driver, Harry Tincknell.
Will Buller (Fortec) and Hywel Lloyd (Sino Vision) have the fifth row to themselves, with Scott Pye (11th, Double R), Menasheh Idafar (12th, T-Sport), Pipo Derani (13th, Double R) and Fahmi Ilyas (14th, Fortec) close by.
Recent Championship graduate Bart Hylkema made the best of the conditions and his T-Sport Dallara to assume 15th place, beating off former-championship contender Lucas Foresti (16th, Fortec).
Adderly Fong (17th, Sino Vision) and Yann Cunha (18th, T-Sport) were the last of the championship runners, with rookie class pilots Kotaro Sakurai (Hitech) and Luca Orlandi (Team West-Tec) filling out the final row.
British Formula 3 Rnd of Rockingham (Rnd 8, Race 1) Pos Driver Team Time/gap 1. Pietro Fantin Hitech Volkswagen 1:11.895 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Volkswagen 0.180 3. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Volkswagen 0.228 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Volkswagen 0.377 5. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Volkswagen 0.406 6. Jack Harvey Carlin Volkswagen 0.632 7. Carlos Huertas Carlin Volkswagen 0.639 8. Harry Tincknell Fortec Mercedes 0.762 9. Will Buller Fortec Mercedes 0.841 10. Scott Pye Double R Mercedes 0.954 11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Volkswagen 0.959 12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Mercedes 0.985 13. Pipo Derani Double R Mercedes 1.001 14. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Mercedes 1.135 15. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Mercedes 1.459 16. Lucas Foresti Fortec Mercedes 1.466 17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Volkswagen 1.529 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Volkswagen 1.624 19. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Mugen-Honda 3.049 20. Luca Orlandi Team West-Tec Mugen-Honda 5.136 British Formula 3 Rnd of Rockingham (Rnd 8, Race 3) Pos Driver Team Time/gap 1. Pietro Fantin Hitech Volkswagen 1:11.794 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Volkswagen 0.180 3. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Volkswagen 0.284 4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Volkswagen 0.379 5. Jack Harvey Carlin Volkswagen 0.410 6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Volkswagen 0.430 7. Carlos Huertas Carlin Volkswagen 0.597 8. Harry Tincknell Fortec Mercedes 0.679 9. Will Buller Fortec Mercedes 0.729 10. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Mercedes 0.964 11. Scott Pye Double R Mercedes 0.970 12. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Volkswagen 1.036 13. Pipo Derani Double R Mercedes 1.079 14. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Mercedes 1.158 15. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Volkswagen 1.359 16. Lucas Foresti Fortec Mercedes 1.451 17. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Mercedes 1.485 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Volkswagen 1.626 19. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Mugen-Honda 3.009 20. Luca Orlandi Team West-Tec Mugen-Honda 4.462
