Harry Tincknell and Alex Lynn made the best of the changeable conditions to ensure pole positions for this weekend’s FIA European F3 round at Silverstone were an all-British affair.
In conditions still tricky from earlier showers, Tincknell performed admirably in the opening 20-minute session.
Although slick tyres were a must from the early stages, the leading players pressed, with Tincknell a constant feature throughout.
Lynn, Raffaele Marciello, Felix Rosenqvist, Lucas Auer and several others darted in and around the top spot; Tincknell’s times consistently fell, allowing the Exeter native to claim an advantage of four tenths for race one pole ahead of Lynn.
This was extended to over half-a-second when the best times for race two were calculated, although in this instance, it was Rosenqvist who claimed the 2nd spot. Rosenqvist also took 3rd place for race one, with Marciello, Nicholas Latifi, Auer, Eddie Cheever III and Will Buller giving chase.
Marciello secured the second row alongside Lynn for race two, only just edging ahead of Latifi, Cheever, Auer and Buller.
With damp patches still resident at many points of the circuit, several drivers very nearly came unstuck; however Pipo Derani was one of very few drivers to come to any real difficulty.
The session was ended prematurely, when the Brazilian returned to the pits with no rear wing section – as less than two minutes remained, the red flag was drawn. That Sandro Zeller was toed in several minutes later, minus a front wing, is merely a point for discussion.
Lynn made it pole for race three in the follow-up session. Following a heavy, but brief shower, the Prema pilot changed to slicks at just the right time to grab the top position by nine-tenths.
Changing from wets with less than seven minutes remaining, Lynn dialled in several heater laps, before unleashing an astonishing lap to jump to the top of the pile.
As the cool air made generating tyre temperature a tough prospect, it appeared as if the Englishman may have made the move to slicks too late; however in the final moments, temperatures settled and times dropped.
Improving with Lynn were Marciello, Rosenqvist and King, while Buller and Latifi also notched up relatively quick laps. Having led the session at various points, Tincknell and Auer fell to 7th and 8th respectively, while times dropped significantly.
The second session was briefly stopped early on, due to an off by EuroInternational’s Tom Blomqvist.
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, grid race 1) Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m54.098s 2. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.421s 3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m54.471s 4. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.602s 5. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m54.728s 6. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.783s 7. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.832s 8. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m54.936s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.058s 10. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m55.160s 11. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 1m55.300s 12. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m55.348s 13. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m55.384s 14. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 1m55.481s 15. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.628s 16. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m55.652s 17. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.677s 18. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 1m55.719s 19. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m54.977s* 20. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m55.928s 21. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 1m56.095s 22. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m56.467s 23. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m56.725s 24. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m56.807s 25. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m57.309s 26. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m58.426s 27. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m58.541s 28. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 1m58.710s
*Mans Grenhagen; 10-place grid penalty, engine change.
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, grid race 2) Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m54.129s 2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m54.643s 3. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.859s 4. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.916s 5. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m54.922s 6. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1m54.991s 7. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 1m55.064s 8. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m55.066s 9. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m55.128s 10. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.159s 11. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m55.378s 12. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m55.402s 13. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 1m55.405s 14. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m55.675s 15. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 1m55.687s 16. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.699s 17. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m55.751s 18. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m55.969s 19. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m55.985s 20. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 1m56.371s 21. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 1m56.640s 22. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m56.737s 23. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m57.427s 24. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 1m58.794s 25. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m58.816s 26. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m59.375s 27. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m59.676s 28. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 2m03.569s FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, grid race 3) Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 2m03.859s 2. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 2m04.706s 3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m04.821s 4. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 2m05.084s 5. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m05.221s 6. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 2m05.347s 7. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 2m06.623s 8. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 2m06.952s 9. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m07.149s 10. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 2m07.605s 11. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 2m07.823s 12. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 2m08.173s 13. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m08.447s 14. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 2m08.881s 15. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 2m08.953s 16. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m09.033s 17. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m09.098s 18. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 2m09.607s 19. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m09.949s 20. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m10.112s 21. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m10.736s 22. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 2m10.841s 23. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m11.417s 24. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 2m11.446s 25. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m11.458s 26. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW No time 27. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc No time 28. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc No time
