Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons set the pace in the final pre-season BRDC British Formula 3 test at Oulton Park.
The 17-year-old topped three of the test’s four sessions, leaving him 0.270 seconds clear of old British F4 rival Kiern Jewiss, who will be driving for Douglas Motorsport this year.
Former Red Bull junior Nieil Verhagen was the only other driver capable of a comparable pace, a further tenth behind for Double R Racing.
Behind the top three were Carlin’s Kaylen Frederick and Fortec Motorsports duo Johnathan Hoggard and Manuel Maldonado. Hoggard was off the pace in the opening session, was the only driver to set his best time in the second, and then was the fastest driver in the third session of the day.
Douglas’s Ulysse De Pauw and Double R’s Pavan Ravishankar were separated by just 0.011s in seventh and eighth, while their Scandinavian team-mates Hampus Ericsson (Double R) and Benjamin Pedersen (Douglas) completed the top 10.
Test results
| Pos | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Simmons | Chris Dittmann Racing | 1m30.613s |
| 2 | Kiern Jewiss | Douglas Motorsport | +0.270s |
| 3 | Neil Verhagen | Double R Racing | +0.371s |
| 4 | Kaylen Frederick | Carlin | +0.608s |
| 5 | Johnathan Hoggard | Fortec Motorsports | +0.664s |
| 6 | Manuel Maldonado | Fortec Motorsports | +0.824s |
| 7 | Ulysse De Pauw | Douglas Motorsport | +0.902s |
| 8 | Pavan Ravishankar | Double R Racing | +0.913s |
| 9 | Hampus Ericsson | Double R Racing | +1.038s |
| 10 | Benjamin Pedersen | Douglas Motorsport | +1.066s |
| 11 | Clement Novalak | Carlin | +1.156s |
| 12 | Kris Wright | Fortec Motorsports | +1.299s |
| 13 | Nazim Azman | Chris Dittmann Racing | +1.389s |
| 14 | Lucas Petersson | Carlin | +1.488s |
| 15 | Joshua Mason | Lanan Racing | +2.315s |