Fortec driver Alex Lynn scored a notable success in pre-season testing today for the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series, becoming the first non-Carlin man this year to end a test day on top of the times.

The 18-year-old from Essex achieved the feat in style, too: he was quickest in all three of the sessions on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, and was more than a tenth clear of his closest rival.

Lynn, the reigning Formula Renault UK Champion, set his best lap time - 1m 53.530s - in the first session of the day. Though his Mercedes-powered Dallara was quickest of the bunch also in sessions two and three, he couldn’t match that pace again.

“I am really happy with the way things have gone,” said Alex. “The car was superb all day. The whole team has worked really hard since the last test, at Rockingham, and it shows. We have kept our heads down, continued with our programme, and now we are seeing how fast we can go. It was a shame that the ambient temperature rose during the afternoon, and the wind got up, so we couldn’t improve our pace, but I am happy to have been quickest in all three sessions.”

Carlos Sainz, who went fastest yesterday at Silverstone for Carlin with a 1m 53.193s lap, was Lynn’s closest rival. The Spaniard’s best time today was a 1m 53.683s, a tenth ahead of third-placed Hannes van Asseldonk, Fortec’s Dutch driver. “We tried lots of new things,” said Carlos, “but they didn’t work as well as the set-up we had yesterday. Overall, not a bad couple of days.”

There were 15 cars on track today, with CF Racing’s Hywel Lloyd and T-Sport tester Dan Cammish making it a four-way fight in the National class. T-Sport’s Spike Goddard was quickest of the quartet until session three, when Lloyd found half a second to go top in class.

The final test day of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series pre-season takes place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on Wednesday (28 March). Oulton is the venue over Good Friday and Easter Saturday (6/7 April) for the opening rounds of the championship; full ticket and spectator information for the event can be found at bit.ly/GG1KTi

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International SeriesOfficial test day 6 / Silverstone, Northants / 22 March 2012

Leading International class runners sessions 1 / 2 / 3 (quickest time in bold)

1  Alex LYNN / GBR,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  1:53.530 / 1:54.224 / 1:54.1102  Carlos SAINZ / ESP,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  1:53.683 / 1:54.643 / 1:54.5043  Hannes VAN ASSELDONK / NED,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  1:53.799 / 1:55.078 / 1:54.3874  Harry TINCKNELL / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  1:53.822 / 1:54.630 / 1:54.5735  Jack HARVEY / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  1:53.850 / 1:54.348 / 1:54.2796  Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  1:54.247 / 1:54.414 / 1:54.2637  Pietro FANTIN / BRA,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  1:54.526 / 1:54.399 / 1:54.9298  Felix SERRALLES / PUR,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  1:54.670 / 1:54.761 / 1:55.0079  Pipo DERANI / BRA,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  1:55.783 / 1:54.826 / 1:55.29810  Nick McBRIDE / AUS,  T-Sport Dallara-Nissan  1:55.699 / 1:55.440 / 1:55.06311  Fahmi ILYAS / MAS,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  1:55.073 / 1:55.835 / 55.104

National class1  Hywel LLOYD / GBR,  CF Racing Dallara-Mugen Honda  1:56.659 / 1:56.450 / 1:55.8112  Spike GODDARD / AUS,  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  1:56.399 / 1:56.281 / 1:57.3853  Daniel CAMMISH / GBR,  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  1:57.913 / 1:57.194 / 1:56.3724  Duvashen PADAYACHEE / AUS,  Double R Dallara-Mugen Honda  1:56.489 / 1:57.575 / 1:57.337