Double Pole for Asmer at Brands Hatch
Jonathan Kennard (#2 Raikkonen Robertson Racing) set the early pace with a 1m18.986s, just 0.1 seconds ahead of Maro Engel (#23 Carlin Motorsport) and Niall Breen (#21 Carlin Motorsport). Kennard improved but was passed by his Double R team mate Stephen Jelley (#1 Raikkonen Robertson Racing) and Sam Bird (#3 Carlin Motorsport) at the halfway point of the session.
At this point the red flags came out as three cars belonging to Alberto Valerio, Alex Waters and Mario Moraes were beached at various points around the circuit. After the cars were recovered the clock was reset for 15-minutes and the session was green flagged.
Championship leader Marko Asmer had been unable to get a clear lap before the red flags came out and was languishing towards the back of the grid. However he got a good run and moved up to 10th with 10 minutes of the session remaining and on the next lap put in a 1m17.891 lap to claim the top spot. Atte Mustonen was also showing his pace, posting a time just six hundredths adrift of the pole time, with Stephen Jelley and Sam Bird just behind. The second red flag of the session was displayed when Johnny Cecotto Jnr went off at Hawthorns in a heavy impact with the barriers. The Venezuelan was OK but his car was a bit of a mess.
The chequered flag was displayed and the Marko Asmer had his fifth pole of the season.
Round 11 Qualifying: Result
1 – 7 – C – Marko ASMER – EST – 1:17.891
2 – 26 – C – Atte MUSTONEN – FIN – +0.061s
3 – 1 – C – Stephen JELLEY – GBR – +0.235s
4 – 3 – C – Sam BIRD – GBR – +0.326s
5 – 2 – C – Jonathan KENNARD – GBR – +0.413s
6 – 9 – C – Rodolfo GONZALEZ – VEN – +0.507s
7 – 5 – C – Sebastian HOHENTHAL – SWE – +0.700s
8 – 23 – C – Maro ENGEL – GER – +0.884s
9 – 21 – C – Niall BREEN – IRL – +1.243s
10 – 14 – C – Esteban GUERRIERI – ARG – +1.289s
11 – 50 – C – Greg MANSELL – GBR – +1.298s
12 – 15 – C – Michael DEVANEY- IRL – +1.326s
13 – 24 – C – John MARTIN – AUS – +1.349s
14 – 39 – N – CHENG Cong Fu – CHN – +1.702s
15 – 16 – C – Max CHILTON – GBR – +1.915s
16 – 6 – C – Walter GRUBMULLER – AUT – +2.010s
17 – 22 – C – Alberto VALERIO – BRA – +2.042s
18 – 64 – I – Johnny CECOTTO Jnr – VEN – +2.099s
19 – 4 – C – Mario MORAES – BRA – +2.129s
20 – 31 – N – Sergio PEREZ – MEX – +2.175s
21 – 10 – C – Ricardo TEIXEIRA – ANG – +2.209s
22 – 12 – C – Sean PETTERSON – RSA – +2.607s
23 – 55 – N – Michael MEADOWS – GBR – +2.739s
24 – 38 – N – Hamad AL FARDAN – BHR – +2.759s
25 – 37 – N – Viktor JENSEN – ISL – +2.818s
26 – 44 – C – Leo MANSELL – GBR – +3.024s
27 – 35 – N – Alastair JACKSON – GBR – 3.187s
28 – 8 – C – Francesco CASTELLACCI – ITA – +3.303s
29 – 77 – N – Salman AL KHALIFA – BHR – +3.524s
30 – 34 – N – Alex WATERS – GBR – +3.594s
31 – 33 – N – Juan Pablo GARCIA SAMANO – MEX – +4.127s
Round 12 Qualifying: Marko Asmer continued his relentless push towards the 2007 British F3 title by securing his second pole position of the weekend, and his sixth this season, finishing the session four tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival Sebastian Hohenthal, the Swede scoring his best British F3 qualifying position. 'Frankie' Cheng also scored the double in the National Class, finishing six places ahead of his championship rival Sergio Perez (#31 T Sport).
Jonathan Kennard once again set the early pace but was soon passed by his Double R team mates, first by Atte Mustonen and then Stephen Jelley posting an early claim for a Double R 1-2-3 for Round 12. However it only lasted a lap when Marko Asmer banged in a 1m18.753 to claim the top spot and then improved the time again on the next two laps so after 10 minutes Asmer had posted a 1m18.097, a time the rest of the grid couldn’t get near.
Behind Asmer Rodolfo Gonzalez was having a better session, briefly holding a front row position before slipping back to 4th at the half way point of the session, but the Venezuelan had started to show the type of pace he won the British F3 National Class title last season.
As Asmer consolidated his lead by posting consistently in the 118’s Sebastian Hohenthal put in a couple of quick laps to claim the other front row position, the best qualifying result of the year for the Swedish driver. Sam Bird (#3 Carlin Motorsport) also improved on the first qualifying session to claim third on the grid ahead of Atte Mustonen, Jonathan Kennard and Rodolfo Gonzalez.
‘Frankie’ Cheng continued to dominate the National Class with another dominant pole position over Sergio Perez and Mike Meadows (#55 Newnet Raikkonen Robertson Racing).
Marko Asmer: "We only had one lap in the first session and I said we had more pace in the car for the second, and we've shown that. I got a good run and I got quite a few laps for pole. I couldn't go any faster so I decided to come in and save the tyres. I must thank the team for the hard work yesterday, my engineer stayed until midnight to work on the setup and I'm pleased to have two pole positions."
Round 11 of the 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series gets underway at 11:40 on Sunday 15th July, with Round 12 due to start at 16:00.
Round 12 Qualifying: Result
1 – 7 – C – Marko ASMER – EST – 1:18.097
2 – 5 – C – Sebastian HOHENTHAL – SWE – +0.436s
3 – 3 – C – Sam BIRD – GBR – +0.471s
4 – 26 – C – Atte MUSTONEN – FIN – +0.502s
5 – 2 – C – Jonathan KENNARD – GBR – +0.514s
6 – 9 – C – Rodolfo GONZALEZ – VEN – +0.530s
7 – 1 – C – Stephen JELLEY – GBR – +0.858s
8 – 23 – C – Maro ENGEL – GER – +1.139s
9 – 21 – C – Niall BREEN – IRL – +1.185s
10 – 15 – C – Michael DEVANEY- IRL – +1.221s
11 – 6 – C – Walter GRUBMULLER – AUT – +1.284s
12 – 50 – C – Greg MANSELL – GBR – +1.327s
13 – 24 – C – John MARTIN – AUS – +1.441s
14 – 14 – C – Esteban GUERRIERI – ARG – +1.528s
15 – 22 – C – Alberto VALERIO – BRA – +1.661s
16 – 39 – N – CHENG Cong Fu – CHN – +1.736s
17 – 10 – C – Ricardo TEIXEIRA – ANG – +1.820s
18 – 16 – C – Max CHILTON – GBR – +2.170s
19 – 12 – C – Sean PETTERSON – RSA – +2.177s
20 – 4 – C – Mario MORAES – BRA – +2.262s
21 – 31 – N – Sergio PEREZ – MEX – +2.338s
22 – 44 – C – Leo MANSELL – GBR – +2.397s
23 – 8 – C – Francesco CASTELLACCI – ITA – +2.418s
24 – 55 – N – Michael MEADOWS – GBR – +2.940s
25 – 38 – N – Hamad AL FARDAN – BHR – +3.088s
26 – 34 – N – Alex WATERS – GBR – +3.150s
27 – 35 – N – Alastair JACKSON – GBR – 3.557s
28 – 77 – N – Salman AL KHALIFA – BHR – +3.744s
29 – 37 – N – Viktor JENSEN – ISL – +4.005s
30 – 33 – N – Juan Pablo GARCIA SAMANO – MEX – +4.445s