Bart Hylkema secured his ninth Rookie Class race win of the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at a rain-hit Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 19th June - a positive end to an otherwise frustrating event for the talented Dutchman. Everything started impressively for the 21-year-old during pre-event testing on Friday, 17th June, his first ever experience of the 2.43-mile Kent track. Ending the opening dry session significantly ahead in the Rookie Class and faster than one of the quicker International Class cars, in the wet second session Bart outpaced two International runners to offer a big confidence boost ahead of qualifying. During the all-important session on Saturday, 18th June, the T-Sport driver dominated to take a clear pole position for the weekend's 'feature race', round 12, and another class pole for the opening encounter, round 10, thanks to some consistently strong lap times. Heavy rain set-in at Brands Hatch prior to Saturday's race, meaning all drivers and teams chose to run wet settings and treaded tyres. Bart initially got his Mugen-Honda powered Dallara away from the grid well but with two International Class cars holding him up with sluggish starts, the Dutchman could only watch as Kotaro Sakurai was able to sneak past for the class lead. Despite missing out, Bart knew he had the pace to over-turn Sakurai. Unfortunately though, on lap four at Druids Hairpin, an attempt to go around the outside didn't pay off and Bart just ran out of track - slithering into the gravel and retirement in the slippery conditions. Determined to make amends during the first of Sunday's two outings, the Delft-based driver had to start at the back of the grid due to his non-finish in round 10. Getting away well, he avoided a multi-car collision at the start to run inside the top 15 overall just behind the Rookie class race leader.  Following a four-lap Safety Car period racing resumed on lap six and Bart pressured for the class lead as his rival defended hard every which way. On the 13th and final lap into Surtees, Bart saw his opportunity and got alongside Sakurai but his rival didn't want to concede the place and contact became inevitable - Bart's car sustained major damage but he was able to limp to the line in second. Round 12 proved to be a welcome highlight with Bart taking a deserved victory thanks to a well controlled drive in difficult conditions. Rain before the start drenched the track but a measured and sensible performance from the first year F3 racer ensured he comfortably took his ninth Rookie victory of the season with a great lights-to-flag drive. "It's good to win again after the problems we had this weekend", said Bart, "I had a good start in the first of Sunday's races but I had to brake hard to avoid a collision with the two cars in front of me. On the last lap I tried to pass at turn four, I got alongside but he just turned in on me and the car picked up a lot of damage. Luckily I managed to just get to the finish to at least pick up the points for second place. "It rained very hard before the start of the last race but I had a good start, pushing the A-class cars ahead but I was careful as the conditions were tricky. When it dried later on I did start to struggle with the car more and more, so I took care and came home with the class win." He added: "All in all I am disappointed as we had the pace for three wins this weekend but now I'm really looking forward to the next round at the Nurburging - it's a circuit I know from when I raced in Formula Renault and where I had good results." There are just two weeks to wait for the next three rounds of British F3 action at Germany's Nurburgring with the fifth race meeting of the 2011 season set to take place on 2nd/3rd July.