Qualifying: Lotterer takes double pole at Donington

As weather and track conditions varied throughout the day, the German stayed calm and drove with great efficiency and self-discipline to win both qualifying wars for round three in his Dallara-Mugen Honda.

The first session was punctuated by a shower of rain after a few minutes, although track conditions soon dried out. Then a double spin at the Old Hairpin stopped the session for a tedious 15 minutes, and when the cars re-emerged onto the circuit there was time enough for only two laps before another shower struck with a couple of minutes remaining.

The second session began on a wet track, but those who had started the half-hour session on slick tyres had moved to the top of the times by the mid-point. Soon everyone was on slicks, and Lotterer's lap of 1m28.460s was the fastest ever seen at Donington in a British F3 qualifying session.

Lotterer, driving with great flair, undeniably deserved both poles, but in the second he was aided by the fact that he switched to slick tyres in the middle of the session. Second and third men Matt Davies and Takuma Sato, meanwhile, were on slicks from an earlier point and felt their rubber may have gone off slightly by the end of the period. Nevertheless, these two leapt into their positions on the final lap once they had broken free of traffic.

There were no such problems for Lotterer, who almost matched his best time on his final flying lap before breaking down in the final minute with suspected fuel pump failure.

"It's good for me to have two poles," he said, "because I was struggling a bit at the start of the season. It's not easy to come to England and go straight to the front. The circuits, the tyres and everything are different. I've been a little bit lost - in German F3 I knew who was who and my place. Maybe I didn't believe in myself enough at first."

Behind Lotterer's Dallara-Mugen, the similar Carlin Motorsport-run car of Sato took second place in the first session. He was disappointed not to grab pole, as his time was just a 'banker' lap before his final big push, which was scuppered by the late rain.

Derek Hayes took third from Gianmaria Bruni, the fast-improving Jamie Spence and Paul Edwards. Bruni, quickest in the test during the week, was also disappointed and felt the rain had spoiled his chances.

In session two, Lotterer, Davies (who languished 10th in the morning) and Sato were chased by the ever-consistent Hayes (joint series leader with Davies), Anthony Davidson and James Courtney.

The Scholarship Class was a case of extremes in fortune. Brazilian Ernani Judice is on pole for the first race, but hasn't even qualified for the second after his battery cable snapped on the first lap. Meanwhile, Matt Gilmore starts from pole for race two, but qualified 10th for race one due to a misfire.


1 Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:28.853
2 Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.076
3 Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.180
4 Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Renault Dallara-Renault) 1:29.279
5 Jamie Spence (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.317
6 Paul Edwards (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.395
7 Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.422
8 Jeffrey Jones (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.428
9 Ryan Dalziel (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) 1:29.528
10 Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) 1:29.571


Ernani Judice (Parker Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:30.936


1 Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:28.460
2 Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) 1:28.636
3 Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:28.642
4 Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:28.805
5 Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1:28.864
6 James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.003
7 Ryan Dalziel (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) 1:29.053
8 Nicolas Kiesa (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) 1:29.070
9 Andy Priaulx (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1:29.074
10 Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Renault Dallara-Renault) 1:29.159


Matthew Gilmore (Performance Racing Dallara-Opel) 1:30.207