The Raikkonen Robertson Racing team enjoyed a shot in the arm at Rockingham this week, its drivers filling three of the top four slots in the final official test sessions of the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series season.

Young Brazilian Felipe Nasr emerged top runner both yesterday (Tuesday) and today, powering his Mercedes-engined Dallara around the Northamptonshire circuit in a best time of 1m 12.242s, slightly slower than the pole time at Rockingham’s July meeting. Nasr was a tenth faster than the Carlin car of new champion Jean-Eric Vergne. Nasr’s team-mates Daisuke Nakajima and Carlos Huertas were third and fourth fastest overall.

In the National Class, Menasheh Idafar was the leading runner yesterday for the T-Sport team; today his team-mate James Cole went ahead. Their title fight goes down to the wire this weekend (25/26 Sep) at Brands Hatch.

Cooper Tires British F3 official testing
Rockingham, Northants 21/22 September 2010

Leading times Tuesday/Wednesday

1 Felipe NASR / BRA, RR 1m 12.502s / 1m 12.242s
2 Jean-Eric VERGNE / FRA, Carlin 1m 12.810s / 1m 12.367s
3 Daisuke NAKAJIMA / JPN, RR 1m 12.834s / 1m 12.522s
4 Carlos HUERTAS / COL, RR 1m 13.093s / 1m 12.555s
5 Gabriel DIAS / BRA, Hitech 1m 13.224s / 1m 12.564s
6 James CALADO / GBR, Carlin 1m 13.065s / 1m 12.583s
7 William BULLER / GBR, Hitech 1m 13.027s / 1m 12.583s
8 Daniel McKENZIE / GBR, Fortec 1m 13.472s / 1m 12.615s
9 Pietro FANTIN / BRA, Hitech 1m 13.215s / 1m 12.741s
10 Oli WEBB / GBR, Fortec 1m 13.090s / 1m 12.827s etc

Leading National Class times Tuesday/Wednesday

1 James COLE / GBR, T-Sport 1m 14.271s / 1m 13.749s
2 Menasheh IDAFAR / GBR, T-Sport 1m 13.785s / 1m 13.984s
3 Yann CUNHA / BRA, West-Tec 1m 16.462s / 1m 15.359s