Kevin Magnussen this morning repeated the superb form he showed in yesterday’s testing at the Nürburgring with a faultless performance in official qualifying for the weekend’s trio of Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series races.Carlin’s Danish driver was the only man yesterday to break the 1m 54s barrier and, though four of his rivals repeated that feat in qualifying, none could match Kevin’s pace. Magnussen’s best time was a 1m 53.311s and his second best a 1m 53.396s to put him well clear of his pursuers and net him pole position for both this afternoon’s race and tomorrow’s finale.“I am very pleased,” said Kevin, a race winner here in German F3 and in Formula Renault. “I knew that I had a little more time in me. The car was great – we barely changed a thing from yesterday.”His team-mate Carlos Huertas set the second quickest time of the session with a 1m 53.545s, the Colombian just over two-tenths adrift. “I’m pleased… The car gets better every weekend,” said Carlos. Huertas will line up second to Magnussen in tomorrow’s Round 15, and fourth this afternoon.Championship leader Felipe Nasr was fourth fastest overall, behind Jazeman Jaafar, to complete a Carlin qualifying 1-2-3-4. The Brazilian will start second in this afternoon’s race, the grid for which is determined by the drivers’ second-best session times.There was a good showing from Hitech Racing’s new Portuguese signing, Antonio Felix da Costa, who set the fifth-best time overall. Da Costa was, however, one of a number of drivers who were deemed not to have observed yellow safety warning flags; he will take a five-place grid penalty for this afternoon’s race. Similarly penalised were Fahmi Ilyas, Hywel Lloyd, Pedro Nunes, Kotaro Sakurai, Pipo Derani and Scott Pye. Yann Cunha was handed a 10-place grid penalty.The incident which brought out the yellow flags was an early-session off for Sino Vision Racing man Adderly Fong.Will Buller was the fastest of the Brits in seventh overall, pipped by his Fortec team-mate Lucas Foresti to the honour of top Mercedes runner. T-Sport’s Bart Hylkema outpaced his class rival Sakurai to be the leading Rookie runner.Today’s race is scheduled for 1425 UK time. British Formula 3 enjoys the headlining support of Cooper Tires and is additionally backed by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International SeriesProvisional qualifying times, Nürburgring / 2/7/2011Championship class1 Kevin MAGNUSSEN / DEN, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 53.311s2 Carlos HUERTAS / COL, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 53.545s3 Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 53.551s4 Felipe NASR / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 53.583s5 Antonio Felix da COSTA / POR, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 53.668s6 Lucas FORESTI / BRA, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 54.097s7 William BULLER /GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 54.184s8 Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.218s9 Harry TINCKNELL / GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 54.280s10 Pedro NUNES / BRA, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 54.424s etcRookie class1 Bart HYLKEMA / NED, T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 55.905s2 Kotaro SAKURAI / JPN, Hitech Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 56.877s
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