Ricciardo fastest in British F3 testing

A Volkswagen-powered car set the pace for the first time in British Formula 3 when ex-Formula Renault Eurocup frontrunner Daniel Ricciardo finished top of the timesheets during the third official pre-season test at Rockingham yesterday.

The Australian Carlin driver's best lap of 1m11.038s, set in the afternoon, put him over four tenths of a second clear of the rest of the field and 1.5 seconds below the official lap record.

Ricciardo repeatedly lapped inside the 1m11.5s bracket - posting six such times during the test. His performance returned his squad to the head of the pack for the first time since it helped Spaniard Jaime Alguesari become the youngest ever British F3 champion last season.

Bedford-based Nick Tandy went second fastest at his home circuit, powering his JTR Mygale-Mercedes to a 1m11.458s best, with Fortec's Riki Christodoulou third quickest, just eight-thousandths behind.

Reigning British Formula Ford champion Wayne Boyd enjoyed his best official testing performance to date by posting the fourth fastest time in his T-Sport Dallara Volkswagen. Less than a second covered the top 11 drivers at the test.

Fortec's Daniel McKenzie ran quickest of the three national class drivers and set the 15th fastest time overall.

Reigning National Class champion Jay Bridger gave his new international class Mygale-Mugen Honda, prepared by Team West-Tec and upgraded with a 2009 aero package, a debut airing at Rockingham.

Bridger propped up the timesheets and struggled to string laps together due to minor mechanical problems caused by the late completion of the car earlier that morning.

Pos Driver Team Car Time 1. Daniel Ricciardo Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m11.038s 2. Nick Tandy JTR Mygale-Mercedes 1m11.458s 3. Riki Christodoulou Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m11.466s 4. Wayne Boyd T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m11.549s 5. Carlos Huertas Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m11.556s 6. Max Chilton Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m11.645s 7. Victor Garcia Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m11.698s 8. Daisuke Nakajima Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m11.784s 9. Henry Arundel Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m11.802s 10. Walter Grubmüller Hitech Dallara-Mercedes 1m11.803s 11. Adriano Buzaid T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m11.904s 12. Oliver Oakes Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m12.159s 13. Stephane Richelmi Barazi Dallara-Mercedes 1m12.423s 14. Hywel Lloyd CF Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m12.709s 15. Daniel McKenzie Fortec Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m13.686s 16. Max Snegirev West-Tec Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m13.762s 17. Victor Correa Litespeed Litespeed-Mugen Honda 1m14.898s 18. Jay Bridger West-Tec Mygale-Mugen Honda 1m15.373s

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