Norris heads up Carlin 1-2 in Rockingham qualifying

Lando Norris has made an explosive return to the BRDC British Formula Three Championship clinching pole position in fantastic style this morning in qualifying for Carlin at the Rokingham Motor Speedway. Having already enjoyed a solid day of testing yesterday Norris considerably bettered his previous lap time to take pole position by four tenths of a second. Team mate Ricky Collard continued his front row form this season with the second quickest time ensuring a brilliant Carlin lock out at the very front. Ameya Vaidyanathan was on top form too improving on his final lap of the session to finish in sixth overall as the three drivers prep for the race this afternoon.

The 20 minute session this morning was once again a fast moving affair for the field of drivers and Norris was quick to assert his intentions; he was fast to move his Carlin car to the top before the times continued to fall. However the session was disrupted by a red flag at the mid-point while the British racer was still sitting comfortably on top. By this point Collard had moved up well to sixth as he began to line up his fast laps, while Vaidyanathan was in eighth – although had his run ruined by the appearance of the red flag.

When the cars were released on track again, it was a fast dash to leave the pit lane and begin the next run. Norris continued to put in fast laps after fast laps at the top as he laid the gauntlet down. Collard and Leist started to push Norris in an effort to topple him from the top however as the flag fell it was Norris ahead of the field by 0.409 seconds.

Norris said of his pole position, “Of course starting on pole position couldn’t have worked out any better. We have a really good car underneath us and we felt good throughout qualifying. I managed quite a few decent laps and it’s a strong position for us to be in for race one this afternoon. I’m now going to make sure that I keep the focus, keep the lead and hope to breakaway.”

Collard was also improving with his final laps and continued his strong record this season of qualifying on the front row of the grid and ensuring a front row lock out for the team. Collard said of his qualifying, “It’s another front row start for this afternoon and we seem to be making a bit of a habit of this! The car has been a pleasure to drive and it’s great for the team to have the front row lock out with Lando on pole. We’re looking good and looking forward to the race. I think the start is likely to dictate the race but I want to make sure that I capture a fast lap to qualify well for race three.”

One the very final lap Vaidyanathan was sitting in seventh position however the Indian racer pushed hard as the flag fell and was one of the last to set a lap time – gaining a position in the process to line up sixth overall.

Vaidyanathan said, “It was a little disappointing that the red flag came out when it did because I was looking good for a lap however I think we can have a really strong race from sixth. The start is going to be pretty decisive so from there I’m going to have to get away well and aim to hunt those ahead for some great points today.”

The first race of the weekend gets underway at 15.05 this afternoon.