Oli Webb served notice of his intention to fight to regain the lead of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series, the Mancunian setting fastest time today at Rockingham in a hotly disputed official qualifying session.
Webb’s 1m 12.147s lap of the motor speedway was a tenth better than championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne could manage. “Yesterday’s testing was hard for us with the strong winds, but the gusts have died down a bit and everything has come together,” said Fortec pilot Webb. “Hopefully we can continue from here and do well in the races.”
Just seven-tenths of a second separated the top 14 after 30 minutes of qualifying, with Raikkonen Robertson men Carlos Huertas and Felipe Nasr third and fourth behind Vergne. Sixteen-year-old Brazilian Pietro Fantin was an impressive fifth fastest in his Invitation class Hitech Racing car on his official qualifying debut.
There were problems for Webb’s Fortec team-mate Daniel McKenzie, who spun early in the session and was forced to watch from the sidelines; he ended the session 14th.
Menasheh Idafar emerged a tenth ahead of his T-Sport team James Cole to nick the National class honours.
Round 13 of the championship is scheduled for this afternoon at Rockingham. British F3 is sponsored by US tyre manufacturer Cooper Tire and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and Mirror.co.uk
Cooper Tires British F3 International Series
Provisional qualifying times, Rockingham 17/7/2010
International Class
1 Oli WEBB / GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 12.147s
