Brands Hatch: Qualifying one summary

Piquet moves a step closer to F3 title at Brands Hatch

Nelson Piquet Jr moved a step closer to the Avon Tyres British Formula Three Championship title by taking pole position for round 23 at Brands Hatch this morning (October 2). Rival Adam Carroll ended the opening qualifying session in sixth place, leaving him a lot of work to do to stay in the hunt for the title.

The 25-minute session started with a four way battle for pole between Piquet, Carroll, James Rossiter and the Lola-Dome of Danny Watts. Rossiter managed to set the fastest time before the session was halted when Lars Sexton and Ronayne O'Mahony left the circuit at Clearways.

A light rain shower covered the circuit as the cars waited in the pit-lane for the green flag, making the track slightly slippery as the session re-started. Piquet was determined to start his weekend with another pole position and in the closing minutes put in a lap time of 41.929s to push Rossiter down to second place.

Carroll was unable to respond as the times began to fall, with Lucas Di Grassi, and then Clivio Piccione going faster, demoting him to sixth place. With Rossiter still in with a chance of taking the runner-up place in the championship, the Northern Irishman has it all to do in the opening race tomorrow.

"This is perfect for us," said a happy and relieved Piquet. "It was the most important thing to take pole position, especially in the first race. I want to go on and win the last two races and the title and this is the best way. I think Adam had some problems getting his car right for that session. But, I know he will be quicker later today," he added.

Ryan Lewis added another pole position in the Scholarship Class. Stephen Jelley headed the class before the session was stopped and was unable to respond when Lewis went quicker.

Vasilije Calasan took third place in the class as O'Mahony and Sexton were unable to continue after their respective trips in to the gravel.

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