Jaafar tops the times in Oulton Park British F3 test
Jazeman Jaafar ended the British Formula 3 International Series' official pre-season tests the way he started them by topping the times on the final day
The Malaysian, who was quickest when the teams emerged from winter hibernation earlier this month at Snetterton, returned to the prime spot on a warm, sunny day at Oulton Park.
Jaafar, entering his third season in F3 with the Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen team, unleashed a flier that was a quarter of a second faster than he, or anyone else, managed all day.
Carlin's British duo of Harry Tincknell and Jack Harvey ended up a closely-matched second and third.
Meanwhile, their team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr was fourth in the morning on his first visit to Oulton, but a sizeable shunt at the beginning of the afternoon session sidelined him for all but the final 10 minutes.
The Carlin mechanics had only just finished repairing the results of a Pietro Fantin spill from the morning running.
For the seventh time in seven tests, Alex Lynn headed the Fortec Motorsport challenge. There were suggestions that Fortec may be suffering from noise restrictions that have to be imposed on Oulton test days, and that the team's Mercedes engines need heavier packaging than Carlin's VWs to comply with the rule.
Still, reigning Formula Renault UK champion Lynn was just 0.036s adrift of Harvey's pacesetting afternoon time. Ever-improving Puerto Rican team-mate Felix Serralles also found a big chunk of time in the afternoon.
Double R Racing's Fahmi Ilyas, who only broke his winter layoff last week, made good progress to get in among the Fortec quartet.
T-Sport drivers Nick McBride and Spike Goddard both had accidents in the morning, but returned to the track without too much delay. Goddard again headed the National Class, although the fastest of his laptimes was set when he did a chicane bypass.
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m28.451s 2. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m28.707s 3. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m28.784s 4. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m28.971s 5. Alex Lynn Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes 1m28.981s 6. Pietro Fantin Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m29.205s 7. Felix Serralles Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes 1m29.449s 8. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes 1m29.528s 9. Fahmi Ilyas Double R Racing Dallara-Mercedes 1m29.773s 10. Pipo Derani Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes 1m30.036s 11. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda* 1m30.543s 12. Nick McBride T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m31.380s 13. Duvashen Padayachee Double R Racing Dallara-Mugen Honda* 1m33.592s *=. National Class
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Why Turkington's desire for a record fifth BTCC crown can't be questioned
Sutton tops final BTCC pre-season test
How Ingram is seeking to reclaim the BTCC crown from Sutton
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
McLaren needs to understand puzzling “up and down” F1 form - Piastri
Quartararo: Yamaha MotoGP satellite team “must be an extension of the factory”
Pedrosa "didn't expect" Jerez MotoGP return in 2024 but pushed by testing intrigue
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Ranking the top 10 drivers on F1's undercard in 2023
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments