Qualifying: Two make three for 'Bones'

Eh!? Well, don't forget that this afternoon (Saturday) sees the postponed Knockhill race (due to typically atrocious Scottish weather) taking place at Thruxton, with the grid lining up in the order set during the qualifying session at the Fife track two weeks ago.

Davidson built on that momentum today in his Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen Honda to grab the two pole spots for Sunday's races. Absolutely blinding on the brakes into the chicane and the complex, he even put team mate Takuma Sato in the shade to comfortably top the day.

With almost the entire Championship Class field blanketed within the same second in both sessions, Davidson's second period pole-winning margin of 0.237 seconds looks even more impressive.

If anyone was surprised, it was Davidson himself. Friday's test day didn't go too well for 'Bones' (so nicknamed for his wiry stature), although he was happy with his car's form on race runs.

"It was a bit better than I expected," he said after the first qualifying session. "We struggled a bit in the test but changed the car one more time for qualifying. I got out there and did the job straight away and used the tyres to their max. That's the perfect way to do it around this track."

Making Davidson's second session effort even more impressive (and bear in mind it was already 'even more impressive' three paragraphs ago) is the fact that he had to pass tail-ender Hideaki Nakao into Allard Corner at the beginning of his fastest lap.

"Also I had a front wheel vibration on my new set of tyres," he said, indicating that the time was yet more impressive still. "And I think we went slightly the wrong way on set-up!"

Impressive. Indeed.

Championship-leading team mate Sato ended the first session second, then slipped to third later on, feeling as though he didn't have quite as much grip as he would have liked. The Japanese can clinch the title on Sunday, but has already vowed not to play safe on any points collecting exercises. Could be interesting.

Swapping places with Sato between the two sessions was Bruce Jouanny. Apart from his Marlboro Masters second row spot, this was the first time the Frenchman had ever broken into the top six in F3 qualifying, and he made the most of the rampant mechanical grip from his Promatecme Dallara-Mugen through the slow corners. "I'm pushing a bit more as I get used to the car," he offered.

James Courtney took a brace of fourth spots to keep alive his push for the series runner-up spot, the Australian beaming his usual sunny smile after a satisfactory effort in his Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen.

Next up, surprising nearly everyone, was Alex Gurney, the American narrowly outpacing Fortec team-mate Gianmaria Bruni both times out after languishing near the back for most of the season. Gurney claimed that the improvement came from a multitude of small things, including getting the confidence to direct a set-up he is happy with.

Andre Lotterer was sixth early on in the second Jaguar car, but overdrove horrendously in the second session to finish well down. Meanwhile, Derek Hayes, who is fighting to hang on to second in the points from Courtney and Davidson, is down in eighth for both races. His fuel pump packed up in yesterday's test and his Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen appears to lack grip.

Top of the Scholarship Class in both sessions was Robbie Kerr, with Mark Mayall (back on form) and Ernani Judice exchanging second and third over the day.


Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen), 1m06.460s
Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.523s
Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.684s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.833s
Alex Gurney (Fortec Dallara-Renault) 1m06.840s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.869s
Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Dallara-Renault) 1m06.869s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.891s
Ryan Dalziel (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.942s
Mark Taylor (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 1m06.949s
Robbie Kerr (Fred Goddard Racing Dallara-Renault)


Davidson 1m06.779s
Jouanny 1m07.016s
Sato 1m07.029s
Courtney 1m07.041s
Gurney 1m07.105s
Bruni 1m07.202s
Andy Priaulx (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) 1m07.236s
Hayes 1m07.296s
Dalziel 1m07.368s
Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) 1m07.416s
Kerr