Grubmuller tops Oulton Park test

Austrian racer Walter Grubmuller ended the second official British F3 pre-season test fastest after two days of running at Oulton Park this week.

Grubmuller, who is entering his third season of F3 with Hitech Racing this year, went quickest in the final session of the test on Wednesday afternoon in his Dallara Mercedes.

He pipped JTR's Nick Tandy, who made his first appearance of the season in the new 2009-spec Mygale Mercedes, by 0.054 seconds.

Formula Renault UK race-winner Riki Christodoulou set third fastest time for Fortec Motorsport in one of its Championship Class Dallara Mercedes cars. His efforts to tie up a race deal with the team are ongoing.

Carlin Motorsport's Daniel Ricciardo set fourth fastest time and was quickest of the Volkswagen-powered runners in one of the team's four Dallaras.

The start of the test was delayed while many teams struggled to pass noise tests. The cars normally run to 114db, but teams were forced to reduce this figure by 6db to meet Oulton's requirements and thus reduce their cars' engine power outputs.

Monagasque racer Stephane Richelmi was forced to sit out the second day of the test after crashing his Brazi Epsilon Dallara Mercedes heavily on day one.

The next official test is at Rockingham next Tuesday (March 17).

Pos Driver Team Car Time 1. Walter Grubmüller Hitech Dallara-Mercedes 1m 27.753s 2. Nick Tandy JTR Mygale-Mercedes 1m 27.807s 3. Riki Christodoulou Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 27.903s 4. Daniel Ricciardo Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 27.924s 5. Henry Arundel Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 28.049s 6. Max Chilton Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 28.153s 7. Oliver Oakes Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 28.357s 8. Adriano Buzaid T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 28.525s 9. Carlos Huertas RR Dallara-Mercedes 1m 28.693s 10. Daisuke Nakajima RR Dallara-Mercedes 1m 29.152s 11. Wayne Boyd T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 29.294s 12. Hywel Lloyd CF Racing Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 29.405s 13. Victor Garcia Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 29.509s 14. Daniel McKenzie Fortec Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 29.937s 15. Victor Correa Litespeed Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 31.365s 16. Stéphane Richelmi Barazi-Epsilon Dallara-Mercedes 1m 31.606s 17. Max Snegirev West-Tec Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 32.597s

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