Carlin Motorsport’s Jazeman Jaafar claimed spot following the opening day’s practice at the Grand Prix de Pau for the second round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.
The Malaysian headed a muggy and hot afternoon in the Pyrenees town with a best of 1:11.784, holding an advantage of 0.142s over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.
It has thus far been a very promising weekend for Jaafar, who has exuded confidence since he sat in the car for the morning running..
Alex Lynn (Fortec) and Jack Harvey (Carlin) ensured an all British F3 top four, although the former was disappointed to have clipped the barriers at Beaumont, ending the day with a slightly damaged Dallara.
Next followed a quartet of F3 Euro Series pilots fronted by Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport). Pascal Wehrlein assumed 6th ahead of Raffaelo Marciello and recent Macau Grand Prix winner Daniel Juncadella (both Prema Powerteam).
Juncadella had headed the morning session after pipping Marciello and Jaafar to the top spot, although a minor accident in the afternoon stopped the Spaniard from making further progress.
Fortec pairing Hannes van Asseldonk and Felix Serralles rounded out the top ten, with the Puerto Rican Serralles ended the session nine-tenths shy of top man Jaafar, while it proved to be a difficult day for Carlin’s Harry Tincknell, who claimed 11th spot, albeit 1.1 seconds shy of his pace setting teammate after he too damaged a wheel at Beaumont.
Pietro Fantin missed the morning session due to a gearbox failure – he could only manage 16th as he played catch up in FP2.
In the British F3 National Class, Duvashen Padayachee headed Spike Goddard by six tenths as the afternoon closed; however Goddard has worked wonders to be here at all, following an operation for appendicitis just last week.
2012 British Formula 3 Grand Prix de Pau (Rd 3, Free Practice) Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.784s 2. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.926s + 0.142s 3. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m11.966s + 0.182s 4. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m12.095s + 0.311s 5. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m12.105s + 0.321s 6. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m12.194s + 0.410s 7. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m12.341s + 0.557s 8. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Merc 1m12.427s + 0.643s 9. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m12.689s + 0.905s 10. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m12.697s + 0.913s 11. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m12.917s + 1.133s 12. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Merc 1m12.941s + 1.157s 13. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m13.040s + 1.256s 14. Fahmi Ilyas Double R Dallara-Merc 1m13.141s + 1.357s 15. Michael Lewis Prema Dallara-Merc 1m13.142s + 1.358s 16. Pietro Fantin Carlin Dallara-VW 1m13.186s + 1.402s 17. Emil Bernstorff Ma-Con Dallara-VW 1m13.246s + 1.462s 18. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m13.473s + 1.689s 19. Nick McBride T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m13.568s + 1.784s 20. Tom Blomqvist Ma-Con Dallara-VW 1m14.113s + 2.329s 21. Geoff Uhrhane Double R Dallara-Merc 1m14.169s + 2.385s 22. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m14.221s + 2.437s 23. Duvashen Padayachee Double R Dallara-Mugen 1m15.280s + 3.496s 24. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m15.820s + 4.036s Italics = National class
