Nasr fastest in opening F3 test
Felipe Nasr topped the overall timesheet after the opening day of the first official British Formula 3 test of the season at Rockingham
The Brazilian Carlin driver was one of only two to dip below 1m11s as he led his team's lock-out of the top five places, while 15 of the 18 drivers testing lapped below Oli Webb's pole time from last year's race at this venue.
2009 Formula BMW Europe champion Nasr set his 1m10.963s best in the third of five sessions held on Tuesday.
"I felt very happy in the Carlin car today," said Nasr, 18, who took his maiden British F3 win at this track last year. "This is a circuit that I really like as well so I'm happy to be on the pace here.
"The car felt really solid everywhere - it felt very stable and we only used one set of new tyres today so I think we're in good shape."
Colombian Carlos Huertas, who is returning to F3 for a third season this year, topped the final session with a 1m10.994s lap that was good enough to put him second overall.
"I am very pleased with how today went," he said. "I wasn't quite happy with the car in the morning, but we made some changes and the car felt great in the afternoon."
Carlin team-mates Rupert Svendsen-Cook and Jazeman Jaafar both lapped within two tenths of the pace to wind up third and fourth, while F3 rookie Jack Harvey and German F3 graduate Kevin Magnussen sandwiched Hitech's Pietro Fantin - the only non-Carlin driver in the top seven.
Former race-winner Riki Christodoulou went eighth fastest for Hitech, as he continues to work towards a return to the category, while Fortec's Lucas Foresti and reigning National Class champion Menasheh Idafar (T-Sport) rounded out a top 10 covered by 0.873 seconds.
Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m10.953s 2. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m10.994s + 0.041s 3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.110s + 0.157s 4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.121s + 0.168s 5. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.358s + 0.405s 6. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m11.370s + 0.417s 7. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m11.528s + 0.575s 8. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW 1m11.530s + 0.577s 9. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m11.584s + 0.631s 10. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m11.826s + 0.873s 11. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m11.834s + 0.881s 12. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m11.904s + 0.951s 13. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m11.923s + 0.970s 14. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m12.043s + 1.090s 15. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m12.084s + 1.131s 16. Adderley Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m12.254s + 1.301s 17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m12.725s + 1.772s 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m14.083s + 3.130s
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