British F3

Top British driver in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series, Jack Harvey, added two pole positions to his record for the season with an impressive performance in qualifying at Snetterton this morning.

Racing Steps Foundation Carlin driver Harvey, 19, led the way in the first half of the 30-minute session with a 1m 41.270s lap, and then bettered that with 1:41.170 on fresh Cooper tyres to ensure that he will start from top spot both this afternoon and in tomorrow’s 40-minute finale. His pole tally for the season now stands at eight.

Harvey suffered technical issues in yesterday’s second free practice session but there were no dramas for him today: “It looks like they are all ironed out,” said the Lincolnshire driver. “The car felt good the whole session. We made a few tweaks when we stopped for fresh tyres. If I knew what was really special about the quick lap then I’d do it every time; it felt good but so often on a good lap you can make a mistake at the final turn… I was happy with the pace and the good job the team did for me.”

Carlos Sainz was beaten to top time by Harvey by just a hundredth of a second, with Fortec’s Friday testing pacesetter Alex Lynn third fastest and his team-mate, championship leader Felix Serralles, fourth. Less than a second covered the top nine drivers.

This afternoon’s 30-minute race, the grid for which is determined by the drivers’ second-best times in qualifying, will see Serralles start second behind Harvey, with Lynn third from Jazeman Jaafar and Sainz.

CF Racing’s Adderly Fong unseated T-Sport man Pedro Pablo Calbimonte from the position of leading National class runner in the closing minutes of the session. Fong’s best was a 1m 43.845s, just three-thousandths better than Calbimonte’s ultimate lap. Calbimonte will go from class pole this afternoon and Fong from top spot tomorrow.