Formula3 News

Maldonado king of Monaco qualifying

Hulkenberg gets Zandvoort win back

Pre-season Formula 3 Euro Series favourite Nico Hulkenberg has taken the lead of the championship after the Dutch motorsport governing body, KNAF, reinstated his Zandvoort victory ahead of this weekend's round at Brands Hatch in England.

The ten points he receives is enough to push the ART Grand Prix driver nine ahead of Edoardo Mortara.

The court ruled two weeks ago that the mid-race deployment of Hulkenberg's fire extinguisher was the only reason his car was underweight after the Zandvoort race, after the team proved a new fire extinguisher put him 0.6 kg over the 540kg limit.

KNAF then had to decide if it was safe that Hulkenberg had chosen to carry on and finish the race, and as the extinguisher had not deployed properly in the cockpit. It did not approve of Hulkenberg's actions, which it called 'careless', but still agreed to give him the victory back.

The ruling is also dependent on ART not appealing the results of the Sunday race, for which Hulkenberg would have started eighth rather than at the back of the grid. In Gary Paffett's German F3 title year of 2002, a race was once retrospectively annulled due to an erroneous black flag incident, which set an alarming precedent in this area.

ART chief Frederic Vasseur told autosport.com that he has agreed not to appeal the Sunday race.

Hulkenberg's Brands Hatch weekend didn't get off to such a good start, however. He was only 14th fastest, three places behind Mortara in free practice this morning.

Renger van der Zande topped the times for Prema, but less than a tenth of a second covered the top six going into this afternoon's crucial qualifying session.

Hulkenberg thrown out of race one

Hulkenberg wins Zandvoort opener

Fire look to heat back up

Filippi rues pointless weekend

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Alguersuari capitalises for race two win

Jaime Alguersuari scored his third victory of the season Sunday's British Formula 3 race at Bucharest to keep his title hopes alive with one event remaining.

Alguersuari took the lead on the first lap when Oliver Turvey ran wide at the first corner defending from Brendon Hartley and delayed them both.

Turvey maintained second but Hartley dropped to fifth and had to fight his way back past John Martin and Max Chilton, but he got both in one move at the last corner.

All three were side by side down the straight, with Hartley on the inside and Chilton on the outside both sweeping past Martin. Chilton tried to chop into the corner but Hartley was already there so he aborted and cut the roundabout.

Chilton rejoined ahead of Martin but lifted on the main straight to give the place back, but the loss of momentum also allowed Esteban Guerrieri to come through and Sergio Perez was all over the back of the Hitech car as well.

Perez harassed Chilton for a few more laps until he got a good run down the main straight and moved ahead around the outside. Chilton tapped the back of Perez as the Mexican braked in front of himand his nose kept pushing the back of the T-Sport car until it spun.

Perez was then collected by the unsighted Ricardo Teixeira, which brought out the safety car, and Chilton had to pit for a new nose.

The safety car closed things up at the front and after the restart, Hartley set about finding a way round Turvey. He looked to be quicker, but save for a bit of darting around in the mirrors, he couldn't get close enough to make a serious move.

Turvey was also able to keep his pace up enough that Alguersuari couldn't get away, and 1.1 seconds covered all three as they crossed the line at the end.

"I knew my teammates were a little bit faster than me but I was still able to win," said Alguersuari. "The championship is still very close and we'll see what happens at Donington, I hope to be able to win there."

Martin lost fourth place when he spun and crashed at the right-hand kink and that promoted the Mygales of Ultimate Motorsport teammates Esteban Guerrieri and Michael Devaney to fourth and fifth.

Walter Grubmuller completed the top six, while Oliver Oakes passed Sam Abay for seventh four laps from home.

Stefan Wilson claimed his fourth National Class win of the year with ninth place overall, ahead of Hywel Lloyd and Jay Bridger.

Pos Driver Car Time 1. J.Alguersuari Dallara/Mercedes 30:43.123 2. Oliver Turvey Dallara/Mercedes + 0.642 3. Brendon Hartley Dallara/Mercedes + 1.121 4. E.Guerrieri Mygale/Mercedes + 10.113 5. Michael Devaney Mygale/Mercedes + 12.233 6. W.Grubmüller Dallara/Mercedes + 12.891 7. Oliver Oakes Dallara/Mercedes + 19.853 8. Sam Abay Dallara/Mercedes + 21.858 9. Stefan Wilson Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 23.258 10. Hywel Lloyd Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 23.546 11. Jay Bridger Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 24.735 12. Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Mercedes + 26.124 13. S.Al-Khalifa Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 36.642 14. Steven Guerrero Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 38.568 15. Henry Arundel Dallara/Mercedes + 39.163 16. Max Chilton Dallara/Mercedes + 54.934 Retirements: Driver Car Laps John Martin Dallara/Mercedes 15 Atte Mustonen Dallara/Mercedes 13 Philip Major Dallara/Mercedes 12 Sergio Pérez Dallara/Mugen-Honda 7 Ricardo Teixeira Mygale/Mercedes 7 Fastest lap: Hartley, 1:13.361 on lap 7

Mustonen takes Rockingham victory

Pantano, Chandhok given all-clear

Hohenthal triumphs in wet race two

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hartley takes dominant race one win

Brendon Hartley dominated a shortened British Formula 3 race and took his fifth win of the season on the streets of Bucharest this afternoon.

He made a swift getaway from his pole position and nobody could get anywhere near him in the race.

Hartley had to build his lead twice after a mid-race safety car period caused by a multi-car collision lower down the order. He quickly re-established a six-second lead and the victory was confirmed when the race was red-flagged four minutes before the end when Ricardo Teixeira spun and blocked the track.

"I was actually pretty reserved," Hartley said afterwards. "I knew I had the pace so it was just about not making a mistake."

The victory helped to keep Hartley's title hopes alive, but championship leader Oliver Turvey finished second with Jaime Alguersuari, who is now Turvey's closest rival, completing another Carlin Motorsport 1-2-3.

The other title hopeful, Sergio Perez, watched his own title aspirations all but slip away when his Mugen-Honda engine blew up while he was running eighth.

Esteban Guerrieri was a strong fourth in Ultimate's Mygale, holding off a line of cars for much of the race. Sam Abay, Max Chilton, Atte Mustonen, and John Martin queued up behind.

Salman Al-Khalifa clinched his maiden National Class victory while carnage reigned behind. The T-Sport driver picked his way to the front of the class in the opening laps and already off up the road when three of his rivals were eliminated at one corner.

Steven Guerrero clattered the wall and seconds later Stefan Wilson and Kristjan Einar tangled. Einar was flicked into the same wall as Guerrero had just hit, while Wilson went the other way and knocked Philip Major into a spin.

It took ten laps behind the safety car for the incident to be cleared, but nothing could deny Hartley his win.

Guerrero's retirement also cemented the National Class title for Jay Bridger, who only needed to finish ahead of Guerrero to be confirmed as champion.

Pos Driver Team Car Time 1. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 23:50.696 2. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M +5.831 3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M +6.701 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M +8.203 5. Sam Abay Carlin D/M +8.822 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M +9.715 7. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M +10.232 8. John Martin Double R D/M +11.010 9. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M +11.570 10. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M +12.213 11. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M +13.999 12. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H +20.858 13. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H +23.622 14. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M +24.563 15. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H +25.384 Retirements:Driver Team Car Laps Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 14 Henry Arundel Double R D/M 12 Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 12 Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 5 Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 4 Philip Major Fortec D/M 4 Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 4Fastest lap: Ericsson, 1:14.642 on lap 15

Hartley takes pole for race two

Di Grassi completes Campos double

ART boss tips Grosjean to beat Senna

Turvey pinches pole from Hartley

Oliver Turvey clinched pole position for this weekend's second British Formula 3 race on the streets of Bucharest.

Turvey, who finished second to Brendon Hartley in yesterday's race, pinched pole from the New Zealander by 0.003s today with his last lap of the session.

The session was broken up into three parts thanks to a couple of errors at the fast right kink at the back of the circuit.

Atte Mustonen was first up, hitting the wall hard as he slid sideways through the corner just five minutes into the session.

After the restart, Hartley and Turvey swapped the top spot back and forth as the times dropped from high to low 1:12s

Sam Abay was next into the wall at the right kink, altough he did at least manage to drag his mangled car off the track and out of harm's way.

But it was only three more minutes until Steven Guerrero clouted the wall in the same place - for the second time this weekend - and the session had to be stopped again with his car broadside in the middle of the road.

That left just four minutes of qualifying at the end, and Turvey was the only one of the front runners to improve his time - lapping just three thousandths of a second quicker than Hartley.

"We found a little more time this morning, and I thought before the session we had the pace to get pole," said Turvey. "I knew I had to really push in the final few laps when the session restarted.

He added that he will try to put the championship out of his mind for now - he leads by 17 points with just three races left: "I'm just aiming to get a good start and win the race this afternoon, I'm not thinking any further ahead than that at the moment."

Jaime Alguersuari completed another Carlin Motorsport clean sweep of the top three, with John Martin fourth for Double R.

Hitech Racing filled row three with Max Chilton and Walter Grubmuller producing their best efforts of the weekend.

Esteban Guerrieri was top Mygale in seventh, ahead of Marcus Ericsson, while Abay's best lap before his crash put him ninth. Sergio Perez completed the top ten for T-Sport.

Newly-crowned National Class champion Jay Bridger took the class pole, ahead of Hywel Lloyd. Guerrero was third despite his accident and Stefan Wilson completed a quartet of National cars from 14th to 17th places.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:12.036 2. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:12.039 +0.003 3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:12.535 +0.499 4. John Martin Double R D/M 1:12.959 +0.923 5. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:12.995 +0.959 6. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:13.016 +0.980 7. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:13.054 +1.018 8. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 1:13.254 +1.218 9. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:13.435 +1.399 10. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:13.439 +1.403 11. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:13.506 +1.470 12. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 1:13.781 +1.745 13. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:13.801 +1.765 14. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:13.879 +1.843 15. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:14.143 +2.107 16. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 1:14.377 +2.341 17. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:14.589 +2.553 18. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:14.660 +2.624 19. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:15.133 +3.097 20. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.135 +3.099 21. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:16.589 +4.553

Turvey takes maiden F3 pole at Spa

Hartley on pole for race two

Hartley takes pole for race two

Hartley takes sensational pole

Brendon Hartley underlined his raw pace with a sensational pole position lap in the qualifying session for today's British Formula 3 race at Bucharest.

The New Zealander needs a pair of victories in Romania this weekend to keep his championship hopes alive and he got off to the best possible start by producing the lap of the season so far.

Oliver Turvey looked set to take his fifth consecutive pole position when he beat Jaime Alguersuari's best time with five minutes to go. But it all came down to the final minute of the session between the Carlin Motorsport trio.

Hartley knocked half a second off the pole time with a 1:12.7 on his penultimate lap. Turvey and Alguersuari responded with their last efforts but could only manage a 1:12.8 and 1:12.9 respectively.

But Hartley was already on his final lap and giving it everything. He carried incredible speed through the chicanes, using all the road but just missing the walls, and unleashed a staggering 1:11.960 - more than eight tenths of a second faster than anyone else.

Turvey and Alguersuari were the only other cars in the 1:12s with the rest of the field well over a second off Hartley's time.

Esteban Guerrieri was an impressive fourth fastest, making another return to Ultimate Motorsport, and will be one to watch at the start of this afternoon's race as he's renowned for his excellent first laps.

Sam Abay made it four Carlin cars in the top five, with Max Chilton producing another strong qualifying performance in sixth. Double R teammates Atte Mustonen and John Martin qualified seventh and eighth, with title hopeful Sergio Perez a disappointing ninth.

Marcus Ericsson will start from the back of the grid after clouting the wall (for the second time this weekend) on his first flying lap of the session. His Fortec Motorsport teammate Philip Major also hit the wall later in the session.

Jay Bridger headed the National Class runners, pipping practice pace-setter Steven Guerrero by a tenth of a second. Recent form man Stefan Wilson was only fifth in class after a spin stranded him at the third chicane.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:11.960 2. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:12.819 +0.859 3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:12.913 +0.953 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:13.230 +1.270 5. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:13.542 +1.582 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:13.561 +1.601 7. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:13.669 +1.709 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:13.717 +1.757 9. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:13.908 +1.948 10. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:13.985 +2.025 11. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:14.466 +2.506 12. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 1:14.526 +2.566 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:14.778 +2.818 14. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:15.031 +3.071 15. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.157 +3.197 16. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:15.269 +3.309 17. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:15.276 +3.316 18. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.592 +3.632 19. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.750 +4.790 20. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:17.064 +5.104 21. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 1:17.098 +5.138 22. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M no timeD/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/H = Dallara Mugen-Honda

Hartley takes pole for race two

Pantano takes pole at Valencia

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Turvey leads Bucharest practice day

Oliver Turvey looks set for another strong weekend of British F3 after setting the fastest time on the first day of practice at Bucharest.

The Briton has won three of the last four races and comes into this weekend's event in Romania with a nine-point championship lead. He was fifth quickest in the morning session before beating his Carlin Motorsport teammate Brendon Hartley to the top spot this afternoon.

"It's my first time on a street circuit so I'm really pleased to finish the day quickest," said Turvey, "It's great fun, you get really close to the walls, and I think I managed to find the limit in the second session.

"I think there's a little more to come, we'll look to see if we can make any improvements before qualifying tomorrow, but it's a good start to the weekend."

The street circuit's grip improved dramatically throughout the day and the quickest lap this afternoon was three and a half seconds faster than the morning's best effort.

It was Double R's Atte Mustonen the did the best lap of the morning, but he pushed too hard and crashed into the wall on his very next lap.

The four title contenders filled the next four places, with Carlin pair Hartley and Jaime Alguersuari second and third, and Sergio Perez just pipping Turvey to fourth.

But it was the afternoon session that gave the best representation of the pace that can be expected in qualifying tomorrow, and Turvey and Hartley were six tenths of a second clear of the field at the front.

Ericsson was third after he too crashed in the morning session, with Alguersuari fourth. Perez was only ninth this time, behind John Martin, Max Chilton, Mustonen, and Walter Grubmuller.

T-Sport's Steven Guerrero was the quickest National Class runner in each session and was a full eight tenths of a second clear of his nearest class rival by the end of the day.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:13.537 2. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:13.761 +0.224 3. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 1:14.402 +0.865 4. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:14.407 +0.870 5. John Martin Double R D/M 1:14.585 +1.048 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:14.679 +1.142 7. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:14.728 +1.191 8. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:14.847 +1.310 9. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:14.973 +1.436 10. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:15.280 +1.743 11. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.797 +2.260 12. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:16.254 +2.717 13. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.582 +3.045 14. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:16.635 +3.098 15. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 1:16.658 +3.121 16. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.660 +3.123 17. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:16.849 +3.312 18. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:17.295 +3.758 19. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 1:18.094 +4.557

Zuber quickest in Hungary practice

Perez quickest in practice at Croft

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Hohenthal eyes F3 return at Macau

Sebastian Hohenthal could return to Fortec Motorsport for the end of season Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix despite walking away from his British championship campaign with the team.

The Swede has not fulfilled his desire to fight for the title, in this his second year in the series, and stepped down for last weekend's Silverstone round with the championship out of reach.

"My goal was to win the championship this year, or at least be fighting in the top three," he told autosport.com. "Half way through it was looking ok, but Brands and Spa were not good and now we're not able to fight for the championship

"It's a tough decision to stop, but it has to be made if we can't achieve what we set out to do. I am looking around at options now and I don't have a plan yet but I could still do Macau."

Hohenthal's last-minute decision meant Fortec only ran two cars at Silverstone and will just take two to Bucharest this weekend, but team boss Richard Dutton says the third car will be filled for the season finale at Donington Park in October.

"It was a bit too short notice to put something together but we'll definitely have a third driver at Donington," he told autosport.com.

"Ideally, it will be someone who we plan to run next season, maybe one of our drivers from Formula Renault. And then we might have Seb back out at Macau."

Senna: The title fight starts here

Hohenthal triumphs in wet race two

Meyrick targets Donington return

Carroll to make return with FMS

Di Grassi in GP2 return with Campos

Hartley does the double at Thruxton

Monday, August 18, 2008

Turvey takes third straight F3 pole

Oliver Turvey clinched his third consecutive British Formula 3 pole position for the first race at Silverstone tomorrow.

The Carlin Motorsport driver picked up where he left off at Spa-Francorchamps two weeks ago and has now topped seven of the last eight sessions in the championship.

"It was good to continue the form we had a Spa and be quickest in practice and then quickest in first qualifying," said Turvey. "Hopefully we can continue to be at the front for the rest of the weekend.

"I didn't have any lap times on my dash, so it was quite relaxing. I knew from my pit board that I was P1 for the majority of the session, and as long as that didn't change I just kept driving as quick as I could."

All the front runners left it until half way through the 30-minute session to venture out of the pits, and Turvey went straight to the top of the times. He then had to improve his best lap twice to see off challenges from Marcus Ericsson and Brendon Hartley.

Hartley's best effort was good enough for the front row, just over a tenth shy of Turvey, with Ericsson heading the second row alongside the session's early pace setter John Martin.

Championship leaders Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez will line up on the third row of the grid, ahead of Atte Mustonen and Max Chilton.

Nick Tandy was the best of the Mygales in ninth, with Sam Abay completing the top ten for Carlin.

Stefan Wilson leads the National Class runners in 17th place overall, just a tenth ahead of his Fluid Motorsport teammate Jay Bridger.

Clemente Faria Jr is making his British F3 debut this weekend for Raikkonen Robertson Racing. The reigning South American F3 champion qualified 18th for tomorrow's first race.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:15.000 2. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:15.131 +0.131 3. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 1:15.302 +0.302 4. John Martin Double R D/M 1:15.365 +0.365 5. Jaime Alguersuaru Carlin D/M 1:15.376 +0.376 6. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:15.549 +0.549 7. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:15.560 +0.560 8. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:15.577 +0.577 9. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:15.614 +0.614 10. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:15.660 +0.660 11. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:15.714 +0.714 12. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:15.735 +0.735 13. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:16.213 +1.213 14. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 1:16.335 +1.335 15. Alastair Jackson Ultiamte M/M 1:16.409 +1.409 16. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:16.439 +1.439 17. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.532 +1.532 18. Clemente Faria Jr Double R D/M 1:16.659 +1.659 19. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.689 +1.689 20. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:16.913 +1.913 21. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:17.027 +2.027 22. Steven Guerreri T-Sport (N) D/H 1:17.160 +2.160 23. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:17.226 +2.226 24. Craig Reiff Nexa (N) D/H 1:17.740 +2.740 25. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 1:18.134 +3.134 26. Jonathan Legris Litespeed (N) D/H no time

Ericsson takes maiden pole at Croft

Ericsson takes pole at Brands Hatch

Di Grassi in GP2 return with Campos

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Meyrick targets Donington return

British Formula 3 racer Andy Meyrick is recovering from the serious illness that has kept him out of the last two rounds and is targeting a return before the end of the season.

The Carlin Motorsport driver was leading the National Class standings with seven wins from the first 12 races when he fell ill before the races at Brands Hatch in July.

The 22-year-old spent three weeks in hospital, two of them in intensive care, undergoing tests and treatment. His recovery is progressing and, with no long-term effects he hopes to make his racing return at the season finale at Donington Park in October.

"I'd like to thank everyone for all the support I've received since becoming ill and, of course, the medical team who have looked after me for the last few weeks," he said. "If it wasn't for their professionalism, the outcome could have been much worse.

"It's been incredibly frustrating to miss the second half of the season but, having beaten an illness of this nature, my goal is to return as soon as possible and resume where I left off.

"Thankfully, there will be no long-lasting effects, so I'm fully committed to my racing and getting back to full fitness as soon as possible."

Hartley leads second Carlin front row

Meyrick forced to miss Spa race

Ericsson completes double pole

Carroll to make return with FMS

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Bianchi wins F3 Masters at Zolder

Jules Bianchi produced an outstanding wet weather drive to claim his maiden Formula 3 victory in the Masters of F3 at Zolder today.

The French rookie started alongside his ART Grand Prix teammate Nico Hulkenberg on the front row and surged into the lead when Hulkenberg fluffed the start.

He was able to maintain a gap over the favourite for the first half of the race and then pull clear to take a comfortably victory in tricky drying conditions.

Bianchi, only in his second year of car racing, traded fastest laps with Hulkenberg throughout the race as the wet circuit gradually dried up, and his more experienced teammate had no answer for his pace.

"I'm really happy to get my first win in the Masters," said Bianchi. "I tried to make a gap in the first laps but Nico was quick. After it dried a bit it was easier for me, although it was very difficult at the end because the front tyres were finished.

"My grandfather and uncle were Belgian racing drivers (Turn Four is named after his uncle) so it's very special for me to win here."

Hulkenberg was lucky to survive to finish second after getting caught up in an accident off the line. Renger van der Zande tangled with Koudai Tsukakoshi as both tried to go round the slow-starting Hulkenberg. Van der Zande spun across the front of Tsukakoshi and into the wall. That incident triggered several more on the first lap as multiple collisions sent cars flying off the road at each chicane.

The leaders had to deal with backmarkers from the first few laps of the race as several recovered from their incidents. A few more chose to gamble on slicks while their having damaged repaired in the pits but circulated 10 seconds per lap slower than those on wets for most of the race.

Bianchi picked his way through the traffic well and stretched his lead over Hulkenberg to more than five seconds in the second have of the race, before easing off in the last two laps to protect his overheating wet tyres.

Hulkenberg pulled well clear in second, with Jon Lancaster completing an all-ART podium in third. The Briton had stayed with his teammates in the early stages but lost time behind backmarkers on consecutive laps and couldn't make it back up.

Mika Maki had a quiet race in fourth, while Brendon Hartley finished as the top British championship runner in fifth. It took him half the race to clear Daniel Campos-Hull, by which time those ahead had disappeared up the road, forcing him to settle for fifth.

The battle of the race raged behind Hartley as more than half a dozen cars contested sixth place. Jaime Alguersuari slipped backwards, while his Carlin Motorsport teammate Richard Philippe clipped Henkie Waldschmidt causing both the spin. Rodolfo Gonzalez tried a similar move on Campos-Hull at the final chicane and knocked the Spaniard out of the race.

That cleared the way for Atte Mustonen and Sam Bird to move into sixth and seventh places from 24th and 22nd on the grid. Both were unlucky to miss the cut for yesterday's top 20 shootout but showed their true pace today as they charged through the pack.

Mustonen set the fastest lap of the race on wet tyres, before Max Chilton snatched it at the end as the circuit favoured slicks in the last two laps.

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 45:19.275 2. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M +4.495 3. Jon Lancaster ART D/M +20.539 4. Mika Maki Mucke D/M +27.030 5. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M +34.170 6. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M +40.536 7. Sam Bird Manor D/M +53.861 8. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M +57.479 9. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M +1:03.294 10. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V +1:10.049 11. Erik Janis Mucke D/M +1:14.649 12. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M +1:14.810 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M +1:18.153 14. Martin Plowman Signature D/V +1:20.051 15. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V +1:27.377 16. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M +1 lap 17. James Jakes ART D/M +1 lap 18. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M +1 lap 19. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M +1 lap 20. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M +1 lap 21. Max Chilton Hitech D/M +2 laps 22. Niall Breen Manor D/M +2 laps 23. John Martin Double R D/M +2 laps Retirements Yann Clairay SG D/M 25 laps Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 24 laps Nick Tandy JTR M/M 23 laps Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 21 laps Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 19 laps Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 16 laps Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 15 laps Dani Clos Prema D/M 6 laps Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1 lap Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 0 laps Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 0 laps Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 0 laps Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 0 laps Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 0 laps Fastest lap, Chilton 1:31.197 on lap 24D/M = Dallara Mercedes, D/V = Dallara Volkswagen, M/M = Mygale Mercedes

Hulkenberg wins race one at Mugello

Vietoris tops wet practice at Zolder

Grosjean wins hectic rain-affected race

Last-gasp Masters pole for Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg clinched pole position for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder with a sensational late effort in this afternoon's final qualifying session.

The German, who is bidding to become the first driver ever to win back-to-back Masters titles, produced an incredible lap in the dying seconds of the session to pinch the pole from his ART Grand Prix teammate Jules Bianchi.

Bianchi was more than half a second clear of the field for half the top 20 shootout after staying out on his first set of tyres for three laps longer than his rivals. Several attempts to topple Bianchi with new tyres failed, until Dani Clos's stranded Prema Powerteam car forced the session to be red flagged.

Once it was recovered, there was only time for two flying laps each. Several drivers took it turns to catapult themselves into the top six, but none could match Bianchi's earlier effort. Hulkenberg's first effort was two tenths shy and only good enough for third, but he improved by half a second on his final lap to snatch the pole from Bianchi by more than quarter of a second.

"It was quite tough," said Hulkenberg. "We are at the top of the pit lane so there were a lot of cars in front of me after the red flag. I knew that last lap would have to be perfect, but I thought there would be too much traffic. There was a little, but I also got a tow which helped a bit.

"Of course I want to win every race, but because this isn't part of a championship I am quite relaxed about it. We will either win or we won't, lets just see what happens tomorrow."

Renger van der Zande got within a tenth of Bianchi with his last effort and earned third place on the grid, while Koudai Tsukakoshi completed the second row, heading a train of 14 cars covered by less than half a second.

Stefano Coletti finished up fifth, ahead of Max Chilton, who was best of the British championship drivers in sixth. Jon Lancaster, Mika Maki, Brendon Hartley, and Daniel Campos-Hull completed the top ten.

Tom Dillman set the best time of the Group B session to earn 21st place on the grid. He was embroiled in a three way battle with Atte Mustonen and Sam Bird for much of the half hour, but Dillman secured the top spot from Bird as the times dipped into the high 1:24s at the end.

Yann Clairay pipped Mustonen for third (23rd) at the end, and James Jakes took fifth (25th) with his final lap of the session.

Group A Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:24.280 2. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:24.550 +0.270 3. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:24.640 +0.360 4. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:24.813 +0.533 5. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:24.869 +0.589 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:24.884 +0.604 7. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:25.044 +0.764 8. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:25.058 +0.778 9. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:25.071 +0.791 10. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:25.086 +0.806 11. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:25.109 +0.829 12. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:25.113 +0.833 13. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:25.117 +0.837 14. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:25.139 +0.859 15. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:25.203 +0.923 16. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:25.294 +1.014 17. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:25.299 +1.019 18. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:25.452 +1.172 19. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:25.597 +1.317 20. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:26.157 +1.877 Group B Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:24.860 2. Sam Bird Carlin D/M 1:24.900 +0.040 3. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:25.129 +0.269 4. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:25.233 +0.373 5. James Jakes ART D/M 1:25.471 +0.611 6. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:25.502 +0.642 7. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:25.525 +0.665 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:25.682 +0.822 9. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:25.725 +0.865 10. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:25.729 +0.869 11. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:25.789 +0.929 12. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:25.921 +1.061 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:25.939 +1.079 14. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:26.160 +1.300 15. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:26.349 +1.489 16. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:26.565 +1.705 17. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:27.207 +2.347

Vietoris on pole at Nurburgring

Hanley grabs last-gasp Durango drive

ART boss tips Grosjean to beat Senna

Hulkenberg secures pole at Mugello

Hulkenberg, Maki top first qualifying

Formula 3 Euro Series front runners Nico Hulkenberg and Mika Maki topped a qualifying session each this morning at the Masters of F3 at Zolder.

The 37-car field was split into two groups, divided by even and odd race numbers, with the fastest ten cars from each session going into Group A for final qualifying this afternoon.

That session will decide the first 20 places on the grid, while those 11th and below will go into the Group B session.

Hulkenberg topped the first, odd-number, session with a best lap of 1:24.971, before Maki went quickest in the even-number session, lowering the benckmark time to a 1:24.485.

Prema teammates Stefano Coletti and Renger van der Zande ran Hulkenberg close in the first group, finshing a couple of tenths back in second and third places. One more tenth covered fourth to eighth between Richard Philippe, Brendon Hartley, Christian Vietoris, and Michael Devaney.

The battle to for a place in the top ten was just as close, with half a tenth covering eighth to 11th places. Sam Bird was the unfortunate driver, missing out on a place in the A group by 0.018s, behind Jon Lancaster, Nick Tandy, and Hitech Racing debutant, Formula Renault regular Roberto Merhi.

British series race winner Atte Mustonen also missed the top ten, as did Esteban Guerrieri.

The track appeared to be around half a second quicker by the end of the second session than in the first, and most drivers elected to pit half way through for a new set of Kumho tyres.

Maki and Koudai Tsukakoshi traded fastest times in the last couple of minutes, with Maki having the last improvement to pull a tenth clear.

Jules Bianchi was third quickest, albeit half a second back from Maki, and just two tenths of a second covered seven cars from Bianchi in third to Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara in ninth. Jaime Alguersuari was a whisker slower than Bianchi, with Dani Clos, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Max Chilton, and Henkie Waldschmidt slotting in ahead of Mortara.

A further three tenths included the battle for the top ten, with Daniel Campos-Hull narrowly edging out Jean-Karl Vernay, Erik Janis, and Niall Breen for the final place.

Expected front runner James Jakes also missed the top ten. The ART Grand Prix driver waited in the pits for the first half of the session, but couldn't climb above 16th place once he took to the circuit.

Group 1 Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:24.971 2. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:25.148 +0.177 3. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:25.241 +0.270 4. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:25.427 +0.456 5. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:25.446 +0.475 6. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:25.472 +0.501 7. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:25.584 +0.613 8. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:25.777 +0.806 9. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:25.789 +0.818 10. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:25.805 +0.834 11. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:25.823 +0.852 12. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:26.059 +1.088 13. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:26.211 +1.240 14. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:26.321 +1.350 15. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:26.352 +1.381 16. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:26.393 +1.422 17. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:26.541 +1.570 18. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:26.606 +1.635 19. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:26.798 +1.827 Group 2 Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:24.485 2. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:24.586 +0.101 3. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:24.903 +0.418 4. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:24.920 +0.435 5. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:25.073 +0.588 6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:25.138 +0.653 7. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:25.141 +0.656 8. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:25.169 +0.684 9. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:25.195 +0.710 10. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:25.289 +0.804 11. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:25.311 +0.826 12. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:25.386 +0.901 13. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:25.447 +0.962 14. John Martin Double R D/M 1:25.675 +1.190 15. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:25.755 +1.270 16. James Jakes ART D/M 1:25.884 +1.399 17. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:26.022 +1.537 18. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:26.673 +2.188D/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/V = Dallara Volkswagen

Hulkenberg secures pole at Mugello

Last-gasp Masters pole for Hulkenberg

Friday, August 8, 2008

Guerrieri tops second practice

Esteban Guerrieri topped the timesheet in a disrupted second practice session for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder.

The Argentinian, who is making a one-off return to Ultimate Motorsport for this event, lapped the circuit two seconds faster than the best time from the day's earlier session.

He was still on wet tyres as the circuit dried, while most drivers chose to return to the pits and change their cars to a dry set-up. But before any competitive times could be set on slicks, another sudden downpour drove them back into the pits and rendered the remaining half hour pointless.

There was so much standing water that no useful data could be gathered, so few cars bothered going back out.

Atte Mustonen finished with the second quickest time, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Jean-Karl Vernay, and Franck Mailleux.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:33.873 2. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:34.028 +0.155 3. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:34.111 +0.238 4. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:34.126 +0.253 5. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:34.379 +0.506 6. James Jakes ART D/M 1:34.380 +0.507 7. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:34.410 +0.537 8. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:34.434 +0.561 9. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:34.456 +0.583 10. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:34.495 +0.622 11. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:34.660 +0.787 12. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:34.770 +0.897 13. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:34.776 +0.903 14. John Martin Double R D/M 1:34.873 +1.000 15. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:35.046 +1.173 16. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:35.074 +1.201 17. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:35.152 +1.279 18. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:35.357 +1.484 19. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:36.207 +2.334 20. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:36.214 +2.341 21. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:36.267 +2.394 22. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:36.320 +2.447 23. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:36.359 +2.486 24. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:36.724 +2.851 25. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:36.885 +3.012 26. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:37.247 +3.374 27. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:37.539 +3.666 28. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:37.605 +3.732 29. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:37.665 +3.792 30. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:37.813 +3.940 31. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:38.268 +4.395 32. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:38.876 +5.003 33. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:38.965 +5.092 34. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:40.788 +6.915 35. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:40.790 +6.917 36. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:42.417 +8.544 37. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:43.287 +9.414

Barcelona tops Guadalajara in friendly

Wickens to Signature for Euro Series

Pantano tops Istanbul free practice

Ericsson tops Rockingham test

Vietoris tops wet practice at Zolder

Christian Vietoris set the best time of the wet first practice session for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder.

A torrential downpour caused the start of the session to be delayed and it was eventually cut from 60 to 30 minutes.

Race winners from the rival British and European championships, Brendon Hartley and Nico Hulkenberg, traded fastest laps for much of the half hour before a dry line emerged in the final five minutes, causing times to tumble at the end.

By matching Hulkenberg lap for lap, Hartley displaced some of the fears that the British teams will be handicapped by their unfamiliarity with the Kumho tyres, at least in wet conditions. They will be hoping for more rain throughout the weekend to minimise the advantage gained by those used to running on Kumhos.

The laptimes improved by around four seconds in the last five minutes as the dry line was established and all the best times were set at the end of the session. Just two of the top 18 in the session didn't set their best times on their last lap.

Hartley was unable to improve his time in the last two laps after spinning off exiting the Villeneuve chicane, while Vietoris, James Jakes, Hulkenberg, Esteban Guerrieri, and Richard Philippe all bettered his time with their final efforts.

Jules Bianchi, John Martin, and Mika Maki completed the top ten with Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara 11th.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:35.987 2. James Jakes ART D/M 1:36.013 +0.026 3. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:36.206 +0.219 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:36.785 +0.798 5. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:37.005 +1.018 6. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:37.113 +1.126 7. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:37.124 +1.137 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:37.222 +1.235 9. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:37.300 +1.313 10. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:37.424 +1.437 11. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:37.438 +1.451 12. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:37.483 +1.496 13. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:37.622 +1.635 14. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:37.837 +1.850 15. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:37.862 +1.875 16. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:37.884 +1.897 17. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:38.098 +2.111 18. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:38.116 +2.129 19. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:38.324 +2.337 20. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:38.383 +2.396 21. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:38.390 +2.403 22. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:38.430 +2.443 23. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:38.525 +2.538 24. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:38.592 +2.605 25. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:38.952 +2.965 26. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:39.119 +3.132 27. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:39.346 +3.359 28. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:39.351 +3.364 29. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:39.420 +3.433 30. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:39.620 +3.633 31. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:39.918 +3.931 32. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:39.977 +3.990 33. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:40.157 +4.170 34. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:40.215 +4.228 35. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:40.483 +4.496 36. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:42.716 +6.729 37. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:43.629 +7.642 D/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/V Dallara Volkswagen

Hulkenberg secures pole at Mugello

Pantano tops Istanbul free practice

Guerrieri tops second practice

Filippi replaces Buurman at Arden

Plowman replaces Wickens at Zolder

Formula 3 Euro Series racer Martin Plowman will replace Robert Wickens at Signature for this weekend's F3 Masters at Zolder.

The Briton drives for RC Motorsport in the Euro Series but as the team have elected not to enter the Masters, Plowman was free to switch to fellow Volkswagen-powered outfit Signature for the one-off event to gain more experience in his debut F3 season.

"I'm very grateful to have this one-off opportunity with Signature," he said. "This will be my first time at the Masters and is almost certainly the biggest race of my career so far.

"My aim will be just to enjoy it and learn as much as possible. I'm going to be working with some very experienced people, so my plan is to take away as much as possible. I'm sure it will be a massive help to me in the future."

Valles replaces Nocera at BCN

Wickens to Signature for Euro Series

Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Hartley charges to Spa victory

Brendon Hartley pulled off a brave last lap pass on Sergio Perez to claim victory in today's chaotic British Formula 3 race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Polesitter Oliver Turvey's engine broke on the warm-up lap and he stranded on the line as the lights went out at the start. That left Marcus Ericsson and Sam Abay to contest the lead on the run down to La Source, but Abay braked too late on the inside and slid into the side of Ericsson, forcing both wide and letting Perez and Nick Tandy through.

Tandy slipstreamed Perez and took the lead into Eau Rouge, but Perez took it straight back on the run up to Les Combes.

Perez then built himself a lead in the early laps, ahead of Tandy, Jaime Alguersuari, Ericsson, and Hartley.

But it was Hartley who emerged as the driver with the greater pace and picked his rivals off one by one. He ducked inside Ericsson into Les Combes on lap two, passed Alguersuari two laps later for third, and set about taking second from Tandy.

He was made to work a bit harder for that and Tandy's defense of his line at the end of the straights was immaculate. After a few laps of trying, Hartley made a move stick around the outside into Les Combes.

By this time Perez was nearly three seconds ahead, but Hartley charged up to the back of the T-Sport car and made the decisive move on the final lap.

He had a good run out of Eau Rouge and when Perez moved right to cover the inside, Hartley used the slipstream to slingshot up the outside. He was still behind as they approached, but he braked later and held on round the outside to seal the place.

Tandy held Alguersuari off to score his and the JTR team's first podium, with Ericsson fifth and guest driver Daniel Campos-Hull completing the top six for HBR Motorsport.

Jay Bridger also pulled off a last lap pass to earn the victory in the National Class, pinching the place back from Steven Guerrero who had taken it from him earlier in the race.

Results to follow

Senna, Grosjean rue tech failures

Perez charges to victory at Monza

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Second Spa pole for dominant Turvey

Oliver Turvey continued his domination of this weekend's British Formula 3 round at Spa-Francorchamps by taking his second pole position by almost half a second.

Turvey and the rest of his Carlin Motorsport teammates sat in the pits for the first 10 minutes of the session, but when they hit the track Brendon Hartley, Sam Abay, and Turvey each held provisional pole.

But Turvey has topped every session so far and increased his gap over the rest to nearly half a second.

A yellow flag, caused by John Martin crashing in the Rivage section just after Turvey set his pole time, prevented anyone else from improving.

"I feel a lot happier about my performance today," he said. "Yesterday I got pole but I didn't get the perfect lap together. Today, I did two laps good enough for pole.

"We're on pole by quite a big margin, which is fantastic around such a difficult circuit. It's a real driver's track and I just love it out there. Hopefully we can convert the poles into wins."

Marcus Ericsson put his Fortec Motorsport car alongside Turvey on the front row, with Abay and Hartley filling row two for Carlin.

Abay was delighted with his best qualifying performance of the season after earning two second-row spots for this weekend's races.

"Spa is very high speed, very fast and flowing, and I think that suits my driving style quite well," he said. "It was a bit unfortunate that there was a yellow flag at the end because I could have gone a little quicker, although it wouldn't have been enough to catch Turvey, he's very quick around here."

Nick Tandy was fifth in JTR's Mygale with championship leaders Sergio Perez and Jaime Alguersuari sixth and seventh. Double R pair Atte Mustonen and John Martin qualified eighth and ninth, with guest driver Daniel Campos-Hull tenth.

Just two tenths of a second covered the top three cars in the National Class as Jay Bridger edged out Steven Guerrero and Stefan Wilson.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 2:14.101 2. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 2:14.562 +0.461 3. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 2:14.599 +0.498 4. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 2:14.690 +0.589 5. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 2:14.932 +0.831 6. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 2:14.955 +0.854 7. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 2:14.955 +0.854 8. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 2:15.125 +1.024 9. John Martin Double R D/M 2:15.293 +1.192 10. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 2:15.307 +1.206 11. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 2:15.355 +1.254 12. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 2:15.737 +1.636 13. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 2:15.750 +1.649 14. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec D/M 2:15.920 +1.819 15. Phillip Major Fortec D/M 2:15.961 +1.860 16. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 2:16.168 +2.067 17. Alastair Jackson Ultimate M/M 2:16.369 +2.268 18. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 2:16.426 +2.325 19. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 2:16.555 +2.454 20. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 2:16.646 +2.545 21. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 2:16.713 +2.612 22. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 2:17.316 +3.215 23. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 2:17.447 +3.346 24. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 2:17.765 +3.664 25. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 2:17.772 +3.671 26. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 2:18.696 +4.595 27. Craig Reiff Nexa (N) D/H 2:20.036 +5.935

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Turvey takes maiden F3 pole at Spa

ART boss tips Grosjean to beat Senna

Flag penalty costs Grosjean victory

Turvey claims victory at Spa

Oliver Turvey claimed his second British Formula 3 victory of the season in today's race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The 21-year-old Briton has dominated the weekend up to this point and turned his pole position into a comfortable victory.

He didn't have it all his own way, though, and had to drive around his Carlin Motorsport teammate Brendon Hartley into Eau Rouge on the first lap to regain the lead after Hartley beat him down to La Source at the start.

Once he resumed the lead, Turvey settled into a rhythm, although the gap between the Racing Steps Foundation-backed driver and Hartley fluctuated between 0.5 and 1.5 seconds throughout the race.

Turvey was thrilled to clinch his first win since the opening round of the season in April and has closed the gap to Jaime Alguersuari at the top of the standings to just four points.

"It was interesting going through Eau Rouge side-by-side on the first lap," said Turvey. "It's great to be dominating, and it makes it even sweeter that it's at Spa.

"I had to push really hard every lap to make sure he couldn't get enough of a slipstream to pass me, but I knew I had the pace to control it, I've had that confidence all weekend."

Hartley was quick enough to stay with Turvey, but the leader had enough in hand that Hartley couldn't drag past on the long straights, but he was happy enough with second.

"I expected to be able to pass around here, this is Spa," he said. "But I just couldn't get near him, even in the slipstream. But he did a good job. I would have only needed him to make one mistake."

Alguersuari completed the podium with Sam Abay in wheeltracks completing a clean sweep of the top four places for Carlin.

John Martin was fifth for Double R, ahead of a race-long battle between Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson for sixth. The memories of the previous round at Brands Hatch will have come flooding back to Ericsson after spending his third consecutive race tucked under the rear wing of the Mexican's T-Sport car.

The Swede had been up to third on the first lap but came off worst when he, Alguersuari, Abay, and Perez ploughed into Eau Rouge together on lap two.

Michael Devaney finished eighth for Ultimate Motorsport, with Walter Grubmuller and Atte Mustonen completing the top ten.

Stefan Wilson won the National Class after passing Salman Al-Khalifa for 14th place overall on lap eight.

Guest driver Daniel Campos-Hull was set for a good showing with HBR Motorsport, but the Spaniard collided with Sebastian Hohenthal at Les Combes on lap eight while contesting tenth place and both retired on the spot.

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 27:10.800 2. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M +1.231 3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M +7.540 4. Sam Abay Carlin D/M +8.651 5. John Martin Double R D/M +12.222 6. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H +18.050 7. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M +18.437 8. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M +25.100 9. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M +25.626 10. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M +29.599 11. Alastair Jackson Ultimate M/M +36.394 12. Henry Arundel Double R D/M +38.011 13. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M +38.635 14. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H +44.867 15. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H +45.623 16. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H +45.803 17. Max Chilton Hitech D/M +46.430 18. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H +51.411 19. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H +51.918 20. Phillip Major Fortec D/M +53.040 21. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H +1:02.343 22. Craig Reiff Nexa (N) D/H +1:26.032 23. Nick Tandy JTR M/M +1:29.828 Retirements Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 8 laps Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 6 laps Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec D/M 6 laps Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1 lap Fastest lap, Hartley 2:15.362 on lap 6

Hartley on pole for race two

Hartley does the double at Thruxton

Senna proud of Monaco victory