Ericsson completes double pole
Marcus Ericsson secured his second British Formula 3 pole position of the day at Brands Hatch before bringing the session to an early end with a crash on the GP loop
The Fortec Motorsport carried his speed from the morning session into the afternoon and saw off the challenge of Jaime Alguersuari to clinch the top spot with a 1:17.313. He was trying to improve that further with three minutes to go when he spun exiting Sheene Curve and crashed backwards into the barrier.
Ericsson went to the top of the times mid-way through the session but had to reclaim pole after Alguersuari knocked him down to second with 12 minutes remaining. He responded on his next lap to take an advantage of two tenths of a second and Alguersuari had no answer for Ericsson's pole time.
"We have so much speed in the car this weekend it's just unbelievable," said Ericsson. "I knew I could get both poles and we just went out and did it. It would have been better not to have crashed, but the team don't mind as much when you crash after qualifying P1 than if you were P20.
"It's been a long wait for a win and I really want it, so I know what I've got to do tomorrow."
Alguersuari was pushed down to fourth in the end as Sergio Perez and Atte Mustonen improved their times in the last ten minutes.
Oliver Turvey and Nick Tandy completed the top six, the latter as the top Mygale runner on a day that has been otherwise dominated by the Dallaras.
Steven Guerrero followed up his National Class victory at Thruxton two weeks ago with class pole for race two tomorrow. The Colombian finished the session five places and seven tenths of a second clear of his nearest National Class rival, Jay Bridger.
Class leader Andy Meyrick has been forced to miss this weekend's races through illness. He was admitted to hospital last week and has been replaced by his driver coach Martin O'Connell at Carlin Motorsport. He hopes to be fit to return for the next round at Spa Francorchamps in three weeks.
Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 1:17.313 2. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:17.445 +0.132 3. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:17.542 +0.229 4. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:17.554 +0.241 5. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:17.691 +0.378 6. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:17.718 +0.405 7. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:17.803 +0.490 8. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec D/M 1:17.827 +0.514 9. John Martin Double R D/M 1:17.844 +0.531 10. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:17.999 +0.686 11. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:18.037 +0.724 12. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:18.085 +0.772 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:18.310 +0.997 14. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:18.401 +1.088 15. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 1:18.917 +1.604 16. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:19.091 +1.778 17. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:19.231 +1.918 18. Ali Jackson Ultimate M/M 1:19.365 +2.052 19. Viktor Jensen Nexa D/H 1:19.659 +2.346 20. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:19.681 +2.374 21. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:19.780 +2.467 22. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:19.809 +2.496 23. Martin O'Connell Carlin (N) D/H 1:19.874 +2.561 24. Jordan Williams Loctite (N) D/H 1:20.186 +2.873 25. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:20.346 +3.033 26. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 1:20.354 +3.041 27. Jonathan Legris Litespeed (N) S/H 1:20.698 +3.385 D/M = Dallara Mercedes, D/H = Dallara Mugen-Honda, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, S/H = SLC Mugen-Honda
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