Carlin ready for Rockingham racing after strong practice

The first of four Free Practice sessions opened this morning at Rockingham with Carlin well and truly in the mix as the third round of the BRDC British Formula Three championship gears up this weekend. In a dry but cold 30 minute session, all three Carlin drivers made sure to jump to the sharp end of the grid, regularly switching places within the top four – Ricky Collard and returning racer Lando Norris were both on top during moments and ended the session in second and third respectively. Team mate Ameya Vaidyanathan was also on form today finishing in fourth overall – marking all three cars in the top four.

Despite heavy rain overnight it was a dry Rockingham Speedway this morning for the three Carlin drivers although strong winds and chilly temperatures remained. Leaving it until the latter stages of the session to run new tyres and set a competitive lap time, it took a while for the session to get in to a groove for the drivers.

However when it did, and with ten minutes remaining, Norris was the driver on top while Vaidyanathan was running in second and Collard third – with just over two tenths separating the three. The next ten minutes saw Norris and Collard trading places at the top before all three Carlin men broke the 1:13 barrier. As the flag fell, Collard had just been pipped to the top to finish in second, Norris just behind in third and Vaidyanathan rounding off a strong showing to the start of the weekend in fourth.

“It was really slippery out there!” Said Collard, who has recently been announced as a driver on the BMW Motorsport junior programme.  “Once we were out on new tyres it took a while to warm up so I think there is definitely more time to come. We have a little bit to do but we know we’re good around here from testing and we have three further sessions to come today to make sure that we find the time and get where we want to be to continue fighting well in the Championship.”

Norris said, “The session wasn’t too bad and we ended third overall. We have a little bit to improve on so now we focus on this for the rest of the day knowing that we have everything we need in order to get those lap times and results for a successful weekend.”

Vaidyanathan added, “Initially on the new tyres it was a little hard to get the temperature because it’s so cold out there – as a result, the track took a while to come to me and I was behind another car for this point too. But we’re pretty happy with where we are currently and know that there is more to come.”

There are three further practice sessions to come today before qualifying and three races for the remainder of the weekend.