Vergne: Around Rockingham In Less Than 71 Seconds

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne was the only driver in the Cooper Tires British F3 field to break the 71-second mark for a lap of the 1.94-mile Rockingham circuit during the official two-day test, which ended today.

Jean-Eric Vergne on his way to top spot at Rockingham Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography /British F3

The Red Bull racer posted his 1m 10.970s lap time towards the end of this morning's session; shortly afterwards he spun his Volkswagen-powered Carlin machine into a gravel trap and had to sit out the closing minutes. Jean-Eric was quickest again this afternoon but was eight-hundredths of a second off his morning pace.

"We had a good test," said Vergne. "I think we learned a lot about the car and the circuit and I was very happy to finish quickest overall. I think we are really making some good steps forward now. With every session I feel I know more about the car and feel more comfortable."

Fortec's rookie Oli Webb was the quickest runner on Monday and his time from yesterday, though two-tenths shy of Vergne's best, was good enough for second best over the two days as a whole. Vergne's Carlin team-mates James Calado and Adriano Buzaid were third and fourth fastest, with Snetterton pacesetter Daisuke Nakajima (Raikkonen Robertson) fifth, just ahead of his team-mate Carlos Huertas.

Remarkably, the top 13 drivers over the two days all set times quicker than last summer's pole position mark.

In the National Class, T-Sport's Menasheh Idafar was again the class of the field. He was run close on Monday by visiting Indonesian driver Rio Haryanto, the reigning Formula BMW Pacific Champion. Haryanto, who tested with Team West-Tec, plans to dovetail some British F3 races later in the season with a GP3 campaign.

Oulton Park, the Eastertime venue for the championship's opening rounds, is the next circuit on the pre-season F3 tour, with a day's testing scheduled for next Wednesday (10 Mar). 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 official testing
Rockingham, Northants, 1/2 Mar 2010

Leading International runners                                Monday      Tuesday

1   Jean-Eric VERGNE      FRA  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 11.437s  1m 10.970s
2   Oli WEBB              GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes       1m 11.211s  1m 11.292s
3   James CALADO          GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 11.860s  1m 11.288s
4   Adriano BUZAID        BRA  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 11.918s  1m 11.290s
5   Daisuke NAKAJIMA      JPN  RR Dallara-Mercedes           1m 11.446s  1m 11.410s
6   Carlos HUERTAS        COL  RR Dallara-Mercedes           1m 11.755s  1m 11.439s
7   William BULLER        GBR  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 11.469s  1m 11.817s
8   Daniel McKENZIE       GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes       1m 11.623s  1m 11.491s
9   Hywel LLOYD           GBR  CF Racing Dallara-Mercedes    1m 12.195s  1m 11.666s
10  Felipe NASR           BRA  RR Dallara-Mercedes           1m 11.706s  1m 11.689s
11  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK  GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 11.855s  1m 11.888s
12  Jazeman JAAFAR        MAS  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 12.192s  1m 11.947s
13  Gabriel DIAS          BRA  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 12.048s  1m 12.017s
14  Lucas FORESTI         BRA  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 13.020s  1m 12.416s
15  Alex BRUNDLE          GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen    1m 13.047s  1m 12.706s
16  Jay BRIDGER           GBR  Litespeed Dallara-Volkswagen  1m 13.143s  1m 12.959s
17  Adderly FONG          CHN  Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes  1m 14.368s  1m 13.992s

Leading National Class runners
1   Menasheh IDAFAR       GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda   1m 12.560s  1m 11.844s
2   James COLE            GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda   1m 13.097s  1m 12.422s
3   Rio HARYANTO          INA  West-Tec Dallara-Mugen Honda  1m 12.792s  1m 13.392s
4   Alex JONES            GBR  West-Tec Dallara-Mugen Honda  1m 14.162s  1m 13.199s

Invitation Class
    Pietro FANTIN         BRA  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen     1m 12.807s  1m 12.935s

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