Formula 3 racers prepare for battle

Antonio Pizzonia was fastest at the end of the two 30-minute sessions, with the opposition coming from Ben Collins. Pizzonia, who is tipped for a Benetton F1 test drive, said: "I am really happy with how things have gone today. I have never raced on the International circuit here, and testing was in the wet last time, so it is all new. It's a great circuit though, particularly Island Bend - the fast left hander. That's really good."

Second fastest was Ben Collins for Carlin Motorsport. "The car didn't feel normal somehow," said Ben. "We are just 0.055s of Antonio so we are doing well, but something didn't feel right. It's not the handling, though, because that felt mega!"

Tomas Scheckter was third quickest ahead of Andy Priaulx, buoyed by the improved performance of his Renault engine this weekend. Michael Bentwood and Narain Karthikeyan completed the top six, the Indian driver a little disappointed having been fastest early on.

Gary Paffett was fastest in the Scholarship Class ahead of Marcel Romanio from Brazil and the ever-improving Brit Mark Mayall. Top times: 1 Antonio Pizzonia 1m30.896s 2 Ben Collins 1m30.951s 3 Tomas Scheckter 1m30.961s 4 Andy Priaulx 1m31.049s 5 Michael Bentwood 1m31.095s 6 Narain Karthikeyan 1m31.237s