Kiesa beats on-form Carlin pair in testing
British Formula 3 testing moved to Oulton Park yesterday (Tuesday) and Nicolas Kiesa returned to the top of the time sheets demoting the Carlin Motorsport duo of Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson into second and third places
Kiesa topped the times during testing at the Spanish Jarama circuit last month, but the Carlin pair have dominated the last two outings. The Dane, however, rediscovered his form on the full Oulton Park circuit and set a fastest time 0.179s ahead of Sato.
Formula Ford Festival winner and BRDC McLaren Autosport young driver Davidson has impressed in just a handful of outings in the Carlin Dallara-Mugen Honda.
The 21-year-old will make his debut in the championship this year and already seems to be matching the pace of his illustious team mate, Sato. Team boss Trevor Carlin said: "He has reached this level much quicker than I anticipated. It is very impressive."
Kiesa's RC Prost team mate Ryan Dalziel finished in fourth place, with the Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen of Andy Priaulx snapping at his heels in fifth place.
Ulsterman Derek Hayes spent much of the morning in the top spot on used tyres, but the Manor Motorsport driver dropped to sixth place by the end of the day.
The Jaguar Junior squad pairing of James Courtney and Andre Lotterer finished third and fifth at Snetterton last week, but could only manage ninth and 13th, with Australian Courtney edging out his team mate by almost half a second.
In the Scholarship class, for chassis more than 12 months old, Michael Keohane continued to dominate in his Meritus-run Dallara, by setting his third fastest time in as many tests and put in a lap good enough for 17th place overall, ahead of two Championship class entries.
"We are very pleased with how Michael is going," said Meritus boss Roberto Costa. "He is only 22, but he is an intelligent driver and is trying not to get carried away. It's a good start to the season."
In second spot was Mark Mayall, while the Carlin domination extended into the lower class with Kazuki Hoshio in third.
Testing continues on Thursday when the teams move the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire.
Nicolas Kiesa RC Prost Junior Team Dallara-Opel 1m30.073s
Takuma Sato Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m30.252s
Anthony Davidson Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m30.619s
Ryan Dalziel RC Prost Junior Team Dallara-Opel 1m30.743s
Andy Priaulx Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m30.865s
Derek Hayes Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m30.976s
Michael Keohane Meritus Racing Dallara Toyota 1m32.468s
Mark Mayall Diamond Racing Team Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m33.132s
Kazuki Hoshino Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m33.263s
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