British Formula 3 title challenger Jack Harvey secured a confident double pole position at Brands Hatch.
The Lincolnshire racer heads a trio of Carlin runners following a cool and windy session amongst the Kent hills.
Jazeman Jaafar will sit alongside Harvey on the front row for Sunday’s feature race, while Harry Tincknell holds 3rd.
Following a cautious opening run, Harvey set his quickest lap – a 1:17.048 – on his second set of tyres, comfortable jumping to the top of the table some seven-tenths up on the field.
As the session aged the pack closed up, with Jaafar eventually closing to within 0.083 of Harvey’s time.
Tincknell was a further two-tenths shy of the leading pair, with Fortec’s Alex Lynn running the Carlin man close in 4th.
After topping practice* yesterday, Carlos Sainz Jr qualified a disappointing 5th when his crucial final run was ruined by traffic. The Spaniard then enjoyed a half-second gap over Felix Serralles (Fortec, 6th) Nick McBride (T-Sport, 7th) and Pietro Fantin (Carlin, 8th).
Pipo Derani (Fortec) and Geoff Uhrhane (Double R) rounded out the top five. Both comfortably out-qualified Hannes van Asseldonk who threw his Mercedes-powered Fortec backwards into the tyre barrier at Paddock Hill Bend.
Fahmi Ilyas set only one timed lap after he went off only five minutes in.
Adderly Fong joined CF Racing for the National Class running at this event. The Canadian/Chinese driver topped qualifying in the class when he set a quickest lap of 1:19.504. Fong bettered Spike Goddard – although Goddard spun off – and Duvashen Padayachee.
For race one, Harvey will lead Jaafar, Lynn and Sainz Jr. Tincknell originally set the 5th fastest time, although he would lose his original time when the stewards ruled he had broken the track limits.
* {note 1}
Sainz Jr topped Friday practice in his Volkswagen-powered Dallara, leading a Carlin 1-2-3. The 17-year-old set a best of 1:17.257 in the afternoon – some three-tenths quicker than last year’s pole. Tincknell and Harvey followed to wrap up the top three, with Serralles gate crashing the Carlin party in 4th spot.
It was not all good for Carlin – Fantin missed a huge portion of practice following an off in the morning. Goddard crashed while attempting to match returning driver Fong, who had a spin of his own during the day.
2012 British F3 Round of Brands Hatch (Rd 5, Race 3 Qualifying) Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.271s 2. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.287s 3. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m17.455s 4. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.518s 5. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.713s 6. Nick McBride T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m18.141s 7. Pietro Fantin Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.176s 8. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m18.297s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m18.726s 10. Geoff Uhrhane Double R Dallara-Merc 1m19.101s 11. Adderly Fong CF Dallara-Mugen 1m19.953s 12. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m20.011s 13. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m20.324s 14. Duvashen Padayachee Double R Dallara-Mugen 1m21.131s 15. Fahmi Ilyas Double R Dallara-Merc no time Italics = National Class
2012 British F3 Round of Brands Hatch (Rd 5, Race 3 Qualifying) Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.048s 2. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.131s 3. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.310s 4. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m17.340s 5. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m17.492s 6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m17.935s 7. Nick McBride T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m17.974s 8. Pietro Fantin Carlin Dallara-VW 1m18.024s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m18.436s 10. Geoff Uhrhane Double R Dallara-Merc 1m18.896s 11. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m19.412s 12. Adderly Fong CF Dallara-Mugen 1m19.504s 13. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m19.748s 14. Duvashen Padayachee Double R Dallara-Mugen 1m20.991s 15. Fahmi Ilyas Double R Dallara-Merc 1m28.158s Italics = National Class
