Second year Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series racer Fahmi Ilyas is confident of one of his strongest outings of the season so far when the championship resumes this weekend, 9th/10th June, at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.Having only agreed his 2012 race deal with Double R Racing two weeks before the opening rounds of the campaign, the Malaysian 20-year-old has been forced to play catch-up at the wheel of his brand new Mercedes-powered Dallara F312. That said, Fahmi has still managed to produce some consistently good race performances during the first three events of the year, at Oulton Park, Monza in Italy and Pau street circuit in France, despite a distinct lack of pre-season testing.Matching his previous career-best result of sixth place during the very first race of the season at Oulton Park, a potential podium challenge in heavy rain at Monza went awry due to an unfortunate excursion in very difficult conditions. On his Pau debut though in mid-May, Fahmi was on the cusp of the top six again with seventh and eighth place results.With the imbalance in pre-season testing in mind, the London-based racer took the opportunity to make his debut in the Formula 3 Euroseries with Double R when the category visited Brands Hatch in Kent just over a fortnight ago and the extra seat time proved very valuable.Thoroughly enjoying the experience, and posting a pair of richly deserved top 10 finishes, the boost in confidence means Fahmi has his sights set on a return to the coveted top six in British F3 when rounds nine, 10 and 11 take place at Rockingham’s International Super Sportscar Long Circuit.“I think this weekend is going to be a good one for both me and the team”, said Fahmi, “We didn’t have a good day during the Rockingham test the other week unfortunately but we found out what the problem was and the team has already fixed it. Other than that though the car was good, so we know there’s potential.“The main objective doing the race in Brands was to get more mileage in the car. The whole weekend we were trying new things with the car, obviously some worked and some didn’t, but all in all we’re heading in the right direction.”Rockingham qualifying will take place at 10.45 on Saturday, 9th June, with round nine following at 15.15. Rounds 10 and 11 will get underway at 10.40 and 13.50 respectively on Sunday, 10th June.2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Driver Standings (after Rd8):11th Fahmi Ilyas, 20pts

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