First F3 Pole for Kimball
Charlie Kimball bagged his first British Formula Three Championship pole position when he set the fastest time in the first of two qualifying sessions for tomorrow's two races at Thruxton
On a dry, windy day at the fast Hampshire track, Kimball led a Carlin Motorsport blitz on the top times as the team put three cars in the top four places. The Californian Formula Ford graduate and F3 rookie put a rather hit and miss start to his first season in the series behind him to go fastest.
"It's been a long time since I've been up here," he admitted. "I'm very happy. It didn't feel like great lap, but they never do when they are."
Fortec's Mike Conway broke up the Carlin Dallara-Mugen dominance with second best time in his Opel-powered Dallara, with points leader Alvaro Parente third Carlin. Parente's recent pole-streak - he's started first in each of the last four races - is at an end.
Dane Christian Bakkerud was the third best Carlin runner in fourth spot ahead of Hitech pair Tim Bridgman and Marko Asmer. Bridgman - determined to break a run of unforced errors here outqualified his more consistent Estonian teammate.
Steven Kane and Danilo Dirani could only manage ninth and 10th best times in the two Lolas, though Charlie Hollings was the best of the National Class runners in his Lola-Dome, with 15th fastest time overall.
British F3 International - Thruxton Qualifying Round 5 (Race 9):
Pos Driver Make-Engine Time Laps 1. Charlie Kimball Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.140 10 2. Mike Conway Dallara Opel Spiess 1:07.396 + 0.256 15 3. Alvaro Parente Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.534 + 0.394 16 4. Christian Bakkerud Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.585 + 0.445 15 5. Tim Bridgman Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.676 + 0.536 12 6. Marko Asmer Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.697 + 0.557 17 7. Ryan Lewis Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:07.827 + 0.687 14 8. James Walker Dallara F305 Opel Spiess 1:07.970 + 0.830 21 9. Steven Kane Lola B05/30 Mugen-Honda 1:07.993 + 0.853 19 10. Danilo Dirani Lola B05/30 Mugen Honda 1:08.012 + 0.872 11 11. Dan Clarke Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:08.252 + 1.112 19 12. Ronayne O'mahony Dallara F305 Opel Spiess 1:08.385 + 1.245 22 13. Stephen Jelley Dallara F305 Opel Spiess 1:08.541 + 1.401 24 14. Bruno Senna Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:08.631 + 1.491 21 15. Charlie Hollings Lola-Dome F106/4 Mugen H 1:08.641 + 1.501 22 16. Jonathan Kennard Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:08.648 + 1.508 20 17. Barton Mawer Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:08.751 + 1.611 19 18. Salvador Duran Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:08.768 + 1.628 13 19. Josh Fisher Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:09.044 + 1.904 18 20. Juho Annala Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:09.149 + 2.009 16 21. Ricardo Teixeira Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:10.573 + 3.433 21 22. Keiko Ihara Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1:10.638 + 3.498 14 23. Nick Jones Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:11.332 + 4.192 18 24. Cheong Lou Meng Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:12.521 + 5.381 23
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