Jean-Eric Vergne beat engine problems at Hockenheim this afternoon to set the pace in qualifying for the German rounds of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series. The fast Frenchman was the only driver in the 21-strong field to break the 1m 34s barrier, lapping the German Grand Prix track in 1m 33.779s in his Red Bull-backed Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen.
Jean-Eric was four-tenths quicker than his closest rival, but more relieved than happy after the session. “I only got about four flying laps,” said Vergne, “before the engine developed some problems. I was quite lucky.”
Every driver in the field “lost” at least one quick time, stewards judging that they had cut corners in their pursuit of a top grid slot. Of the quicker men, Vergne was among the best behaved.
Second quickest in the session was Hitech’s Brazilian ace Gabriel Dias, with his countryman Adriano Buzaid third fastest for Carlin. Championship leader Oli Webb endured some technical issues with his Fortec machine and wound up fifth on the timesheet, and top Mercedes-powered runner.
Wayne Boyd made a welcome return to the championship, the Ulsterman slotting into the vacant Sino Vision Racing seat alongside Adderly Fong. Wayne set 15th best time, three-tenths ahead of his team-mate.
James Cole won the battle for National Class honours, pipping his class rival and T-Sport team-mate Menasheh Idafar to top spot by three-thousandths.
The session was red-flagged for a spell after Alex Brundle ran out of road when his T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen suffered a braking failure; it was Alex’s second accident at Hockenheim, the Norfolk driver having damaged his car yesterday in testing. Brundle set 13th-best time before his off.
Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series
