Burti blitzes rivals

The Brazilian's Stewart Racing Dallara-Mugen was a staggering 0.574s clear - a lifetime in F3 racing - of closest rival Kristian Kolby's Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mugen.

Meanwhile, championship leader Marc Hynes, who only needs to finish fifth to clinch the title, even if Burti wins, is languishing in that all-important fifth position.

Burti's lap came in perfect, crisp autumn conditions, producing an average lap speed of nearly 125mph, the fastest F3 lap recorded anywhere in Europe this season.

'We came here to do one thing, and that's win the race,' he said after the first session. 'So far we are keeping to our side. The rest, where Marc finishes, is not up to me, it's really as simple as that.

'Today is a quick day. The wind is going in the right direction, but the good thing is being a lot quicker than the others. The car felt good everywhere, but the important thing now is to work on race set-up.'

Burti did just that in the almost universally slower second session, allowing Kolby to nick the fastest time in session, although not with a quick enough lap to match his time in the first period.

The Dane felt as though he may have been running too much wing, seeing as his car was too easily flat around the ultra-fast swerves at the back of the circuit.

'We've got a good set-up for fast, bumpy circuits like this,' he said, 'but we're a bit too far off Burti.'

Burti's Stewart team mate, Andrew Kirkaldy, leapt back up the order to third at the circuit on which he qualified on pole earlier this season, with Silverstone winner Jenson Button alongside him on the second row in his Promatecme Dallara-Renault.

Hynes' Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen was always going to struggle relatively at Thruxton - the team is new to F3 and testing is limited at the Hampshire track. He starts fifth, alongside returning veteran Warren Hughes, driving a Dallara-Mugen for the Alan Docking Racing team in place of Doug Bell.

Tim Spouge, Matt Davies, Narain Karthikeyan and Toby Scheckter round out the top 10.