Buzaid takes pole at Snetterton
Adriano Buzaid topped an incredibly tight British Formula 3 qualifying session at Snetterton today
Fresh from his first win of the season at Silverstone earlier this month, the Carlin driver was in contention throughout the 30 minutes.
In the final 10 minutes he became the only man to dip below the 61-second barrier with 1m00.948s. He then followed it up with 1m00.994s to secure two poles for this weekend's races.
The Brazilian's team-mate James Calado had set the pace early on and sat on pole after the first runs with 1m01.033s. But he failed to improve on the second run and fell to third as Buzaid and newly-crowned champion Jean-Eric Vergne improved.
"James was quick in testing so we knew he would be hard to beat, but we put everything together on the second run," said Buzaid, who pitted early to watch his rivals fail to match his time.
Vergne had struggled earlier on, only managing to climb to fourth before the tyre changes. But he was more competitive on his second set of Cooper rubber and briefly jumped to pole before Buzaid's late effort.
Behind the Carlin trio, Felipe Nasr led a Raikkonen Robertson Racing four-five, just over a tenth behind Buzaid, and a similar margin over team-mate Daisuke Nakajima.
Fortec's Oliver Webb, who had been in the top three early on, ended up sixth after failing to improve on his 1m01.215s with his second set of tyres.
The competitiveness of the field was demonstrated by the fact that less than one second covered the top 16 cars.
Grid for race one Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Adriano Buzaid Carlin D/V 1m00.994s 2. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin D/V 1m01.034s + 0.040s 3. James Calado Carlin D/V 1m01.128s + 0.134s 4. Daisuke Nakajima Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.222s + 0.228s 5. Oli Webb Fortec D/M 1m01.266s + 0.272s 6. Felipe Nasr Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.351s + 0.357s 7. Carlos Huertas Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.391s + 0.397s 8. Gabriel Dias Hitech D/V 1m01.440s + 0.446s 9. Daniel McKenzie Fortec D/M 1m01.442s + 0.448s 10. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin D/V 1m01.503s + 0.509s 11. Hywel Lloyd CF/Manor D/M 1m01.521s + 0.527s 12. William Buller Hitech D/V 1m01.679s + 0.685s 13. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin D/V 1m01.803s + 0.809s 14. Lucas Foresti Carlin D/V 1m01.855s + 0.861s 15. Alex Brundle T-Sport D/V 1m01.871s + 0.877s 16. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport D/H 1m01.964s + 0.970s 17. Maxim Snegirev Fortec D/M 1m02.136s + 1.142s 18. James Cole T-Sport D/H 1m02.153s + 1.159s 19. Jay Bridger Litespeed D/M 1m02.226s + 1.232s 20. Adderly Fong Sino Vision D/M 1m02.288s + 1.294s 21. Juan Carlos Sistos West-Tec D/H 1m02.853s + 1.859s Grid for race three Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Adriano Buzaid Carlin D/V 1m00.948s 2. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin D/V 1m01.001s + 0.053s 3. James Calado Carlin D/V 1m01.033s + 0.085s 4. Felipe Nasr Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.053s + 0.105s 5. Daisuke Nakajima Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.195s + 0.247s 6. Oli Webb Fortec D/M 1m01.215s + 0.267s 7. Carlos Huertas Raikkonen Robertson D/M 1m01.318s + 0.370s 8. Gabriel Dias Hitech D/V 1m01.365s + 0.417s 9. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin D/V 1m01.404s + 0.456s 10. Daniel McKenzie Fortec D/M 1m01.437s + 0.489s 11. Hywel Lloyd CF/Manor D/M 1m01.517s + 0.569s 12. William Buller Hitech D/V 1m01.563s + 0.615s 13. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin D/V 1m01.657s + 0.709s 14. Alex Brundle T-Sport D/V 1m01.670s + 0.722s 15. Lucas Foresti Carlin D/V 1m01.832s + 0.884s 16. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport D/H 1m01.849s + 0.901s 17. Adderly Fong Sino Vision D/M 1m01.968s + 1.020s 18. Maxim Snegirev Fortec D/M 1m02.095s + 1.147s 19. James Cole T-Sport D/H 1m02.106s + 1.158s 20. Jay Bridger Litespeed D/M 1m02.179s + 1.231s 21. Juan Carlos Sistos West-Tec D/H 1m02.806s + 1.858s
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