Donington qual 2: Austin bags pole
Rob Austin took his first British Formula 3 championship pole at Donington Park today (Saturday), on a one-off return to the series for the Menu Motorsport team after being side-lined by injury
Austin is making a one-off appearance in the series after missing the last three rounds of due to injury. Robert Doornbas, who filled in for the team at the last round of the championship at Spa, claiming Menu's first pole, will take over the car after this weekend. With nothing to lose, Austin has vowed to go all-out for victory in the races.
It was a typically fraught session on Donington's short circuit. Damp patches on the track slowed those who went out early, but the build-up of traffic late in the session left several drivers believing that their best times had been robbed from them.
Championship leader Alan van der Merwe (Carlin) took his second front-row starting spot of the weekend with second, just 0.051s behind Austin. Title long-shot Jamie Green (Carlin) was third fastest.
Fairuz Fauzy (Promatecme) kept his strong form going with fourth, despite a spin late in the session at the Old Hairpin. Danny Watts (Hitech) was fifth, with a strong showing from American Billy Asaro (P1 Motorsport) rounding out the top six.
Ernesto Viso (P1 Motorsport) claimed his second Scholarship class pole of the weekend, although by only 0.027s ahead of Steven Kane (T-Sport). The second T-sport machine of Karun Chandhok rounded out the top three.
Rob Austin (Menu) 1m04.025s
Alan van der Merwe (Carlin) 1m04.076s
Jamie Green (Carlin) 1m04.184s
Fairuz Fauzy (Promatecme) 1m04.306s
Danny Watts (Hitech) 1m04.357s
Billy Asaro (P1 Motorsport) 1m04.379s
Ernesto Viso (P1 Motorsport) 1m04.718s
Steven Kane (T-Sport) 1m04.745s
Karun Chandhok (T-Sport) 1m04.947s
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