West-Tec 1-2-3 in National Class practice on the GP circuit
Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar and Jordan King were the pace setters in the two 60-minute free practice sessions on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit Friday ahead of this weekend's third round of the 2013 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.The 20-year-old Malaysian, returning to the series this weekend after finishing runner-up to Jack Harvey last season, comfortably topped the first session by a four tenths of a second margin this morning, lapping in a time of 1:18.857, on a greasy track that dried out as the session progressed. King ran his fellow Carlin team-mate closest. The British racer was the only driver to get within half a second of Jaafar, but fortunes were reversed in the afternoon session. In both sessions there were three red flags due to driver's exploring the circuit boundaries. Unfortunately for Jaafar, at the end of the morning he was one of those off track, the incident at the notoriously tricky Dingle Dell corner meant a good ten minutes of his afternoon were lost.Also in the wars were Double R's Antonio Giovinazzi who damaged two corners of his Dallara at Paddock Hill Bend, Fortec's Felipe Guimaraes (off at Clark Curve); in the afternoon Sean Gelael's Double R visited the gravel at Stirlings. Behind Jaafar and King in the first session were their team-mates Nicholas Latifi and Jann Mardenborough, giving Carlin it's first 1-2-3-4 in British F3 this season.
Giovinazzi returned to form in double-quick time this afternoon to go second quickest in the afternoon with Jaafar, Latifi and Mardenborough in hot pursuit, the three Carlin racers separated by just half a second. New boy Peter Li Zhi Cong slowly got to grips with the technical Brands Hatch GP Circuit, finishing eleventh and twelfth in both sessions.Championship leader Will Buller had a difficult time in both sessions today, the Fortec driver stalked the Carlin foursome from afar, finishing fifth and sixth across the two sessions. Returning to the National Class after missing the Spa-Francorchamps races were Ed Jones and Cameron Twynham's West-Tec Dallaras. It was a mixed session for Jones. After topping the morning session, the UAE-based driver again went quickest in the second session, but late on an engine related issue caused him to pull off the circuit at Druids with a engine electrical issue.Jones' biggest threat proved to be Twynham in the F308 chassis. The British racer was a comfortable 1.4s ahead of the third West-Tec entry, New Zealander Chris Vlok in the morning, and 1.8s ahead of his Australasian team-mate in the later session.National class points leader Sun Zheng had a tricky day too, the Chinese driver finished a lowly fourth in both practices with his CF Racing prepared Dallara F311, his second session was cut short when he visited the gravel trap at Druids. Track action gets underway on Saturday with qualifying at 11:15 and the first race of the weekend in the afternoon at 14:55. Sunday features two races, the first of which begins at 11:00, the final race of the weekend closes the meeting at 16:50. Leading International class runners am/pm (faster time in bold):1 Jordan KING (GBR), Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1:19.290 / 1:18.4062 Jazeman JAAFAR (MAS), Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1:18.857 / 1:19.350 3 Antonio GIOVINAZZI (ITA), Double R Dallara-HWA Mercedes 1:20.805 / 1:19.021Leading National class runners am/pm (faster time in bold):1 Ed JONES (UAE), West-Tec Dallara-Toyota 1:21.210 / 1:21.5762 Cameron TWYNHAM (GBR), West-Tec Dallara-Toyota 1:23.069 / 1:22.5093 Chris VLOK (NZL), West-Tec Dallara-Toyota 1:24.492 / 1:24.386
DOWNLOAD THE FULL TIMING BOOK
Race Facts:Cooper Tires British F3 International SeriesBrands HatchBrands Hatch GP Circuit, Fawkham, Kent, UK2.613-mile, 9-turn race circuit,August 10th - August 11th, 2013Provisional Series Standings after Round 2 of 4:International Class: 1 William Buller (Fortec) 96pts; 2 King (Carlin) 75; 3 Giovinazzi (Double R) 73; 4 Gelael (Double R) 55; 5 Calderon (Double R) 47; 6 Guimaraes (Fortec) 45; 7 Mardenborough (Carlin) 40; 8 Latifi (Carlin) 37.National Class: 1 Sun Zheng (CF Racing) 96pts; 2 Ed Jones (West-Tec) 64; 3 Jordan Oon (West-Tec) 45; 4 Chris Vlok (West-Tec) 43; 5 Cameron Twynham (West-Tec) 38; 6 Roberto La Rocca (West-Tec) 33.
British F3 TV Broadcast:Channel 4: Highlights, Saturday August 24th 07:00Motors TV: Highlights, Sunday August 25th 18:50
Click here for the Official Double R Racing web site - designed and built by Racecar
