Another great weekend of Cooper Tires British F3 racing and an equally exciting two days in the Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona Challenge.

Carlin, and especially Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, blazed away around Thruxton Circuit – once an RAF airfield and a staging post for D-Day – and pushed further ahead in the Sunoco Daytona Challenge and the British F3 championship.

His Challenge points are now a not-unassailable average of 105.56.

Vergne – on pole and first time racing at the Hampshire circuit – came second to teammate and fastest-lapper James Calado in the first race of the weekend.

The third race – the middle reverse-grid race does not count towards the Sunoco Daytona Challenge – saw the flying Frenchman clinch pole and fastest lap, as well as winning the race.

Vergne, for his efforts, was rightly awarded Sunoco Driver of the Weekend.

Excitement in the Challenge is mounting, especially for the current Top 4 drivers: Vergne, Ross Kaiser, Matt Griffin and Jody Firth.

These few, these lucky few, will have their first laps in a Daytona Prototype – owned by ace racer and boss of Just Marketing, Zak Brown – this Wednesday at Silverstone.

Under the tutelage of Derek Johnston, winner of the inaugural Sunoco Daytona Challenge and part of the team that came 10th in class in the 2010 Rolex 24, the chaps will get to grips with the finer points of a DP.

The winner, possibly one of these guys, will be behind the wheel on October 18th for his first bout of pre-Rolex 24 testing. Further test flights take place in the UK on November 2nd and 11th, before “The Roar Before the 24” at Daytona International Speedway January 7th-9th, 2011.