Carlin on form in Rockingham testing

Carlin have rounded off a day of strong testing at Rockingham with Ricky Collard setting the second quickest time of the day in official BRDC British F3 testing following four 30 minute sessions on track. The Carlin driver made sure that he finished every session today in the top three to ensure the perfect position as he prepares for qualifying tomorrow morning. Also on the pace was Lando Norris who finished the day as fourth quickest while Ameya Vaidyanathan rounded off a strong affair for the team in seventh overall – marking a fantastic day of testing for all three as they prepare for qualifying tomorrow morning.

The four test sessions today remained dry with the majority of the quickest times coming from the very first session of the day. The subsequent two sessions were topped by Collard as all three drivers enjoyed strong on track action in the lead up to the third round of the highly competitive championship.

Collard was a consistent runner throughout and made sure to keep his Carlin car planted within the top three of each session as he hopes to replicate his strong haul of points scoring from the previous round at Brands Hatch. The British racer set his quickest time of the day in the first session and ended as the second fastest as the times were combined.

Collard said of his day, “We were in the top three all day and of the four sessions we were on top for two of them so it’s definitely looking really positive as we prepare for qualifying tomorrow. We know from today that we have a pretty dominant car underneath us and as a result this is probably the most confident I’ve felt after testing and before qualifying. Thanks to the team for the car and the hard work.”

Norris, who has returned to the Carlin car after missing out on the Brands Hatch round due to his season commitments elsewhere, was also pushing well upon his return and had been trading places with his team mate throughout the day. Norris commented about testing, “We’ve worked a fair amount on the car heading in to this weekend and although we didn’t get the most out of some of the sessions, including the one that was brought to a close by a red flag, I still think we have more to come tomorrow. Overall, it’s been really productive but we’ll be pushing hard for qualifying tomorrow.”

Vaidyanathan was also on pace today and was the fourth quickest in the first session before keeping his laps consistent as he continued strongly to finish the day in seventh overall. Vaidyanathan added about testing today, “It’s looking good out there and I think we’ve given ourselves a good footing for tomorrow. We’ve made some improvements throughout the day so it’s good to finish seventh overall. Now we look to continue this through in to tomorrow.”

Qualifying tomorrow gets underway at 10.55 with race one starting at 15.05.