British F3 Testing: Ushijima and Lubin top Thursday morning sessions

The BRDC British Formula 3 Championship returns to the Silverstone GP circuit this weekend, and the drivers were out on track testing on Thursday morning.

Reece Ushijima (Hitech GP) went fastest in the first session, two tenths clear of Alex Connor, with the Arden Motorsport man a further two tenths ahead of Ushijima’s team-mate Bart Horsten.

The front two rows were made up by Hitech and Arden, with Frederick Lubin setting a 1:56.592 around the GP circuit for fourth place.

Championship leader Zak O’Sullivan was fifth for Carlin, just behind Lubin and less than half a tenth clear of Javier Sagrera (Elite Motorsport).

The other two Carlins of Bryce Aron and Christian Mansell ran line astern in seventh and eighth, while Sebastian Alvarez (Hitech) and Tom Lebbon (Elite) rounded out the top ten.

There was a four-tenth gap between Lebbon and Max Marzorati for Chris Dittmann Racing, the British driver leading Dexter Patterson (Douglas Motorsport) and Mikkel Grundtvig (Fortec Motorsport).

Reema Juffali and Brands Hatch race-winner Ayrton Simmons followed in 14th and 15th.

José Garfias stopped on track which out the red flag temporarily; the Mexican was unable to set a representative time in the opening 45 minutes of testing, but finished ahead of Fortec’s Roberto Faria who didn’t set a time.

Fortec’s third car, reserved for Ollie Bearman, will be absent from Silverstone this weekend as he looks to hold onto his Italian F4 championship lead at Vallelunga. His absence will surely mean he will slip from second place in the British F3 standings after the second meeting of the season.

2021 Silverstone GP First Test Session Results:

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Time/Gap
1	13	Reece Ushijima	JPN	Hitech GP	1:55.965
2	27	Alex Connor	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+0.215
3	50	Bart Horsten	AUS	Hitech GP	+0.420
4	78	Frederick Lubin	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+0.627
5	51	Zak O’Sullivan	GBR	Carlin	+0.639
6	3	Javier Sagrera	ESP	Elite Motorsport	+0.676
7	23	Bryce Aron	USA	Carlin	+1.144
8	21	Christian Mansell	AUS	Carlin	+1.176
9	12	Sebastian Alvarez	MEX	Hitech GP	+1.236
10	34	Tom Lebbon	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+1.273
11	81	Max Marzorati	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+1.687
12	55	Dexter Patterson	GBR	Douglas Motorsport	+1.781
13	43	Mikkel Grundtvig	DEN	Fortec Motorsport	+1.914
14	10	Reema Juffali	SAU	Douglas Motorsport	+2.147
15	18	Ayrton Simmons	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+2.680
16	99	Jose Garfias	MEX	Elite Motorsport	+4.967
17	7	Roberto Faria	BRA	Fortec Motorsport	No time set

The second session began at 10:40am, with Ushijima again setting the early pace before Horsten usurped his team-mate by just over a tenth.

Javier Sagrera went top shortly afterwards with a 1:56.473, a tenth ahead of the Arden pairing of Connor and Lubin.

Dexter Patterson shot up to second with 13 minutes remaining, half a second behind Sagrera, before Ushijima went top for the second session in a row with a 1:55.997, marginally slower than his fastest time in Session 1.

Lebbon, Simmons and Alvarez all gained several positions with good laps in the final 12 minutes, while Aron moved up six places with a 1:56.591 to go sixth.

Lubin went top with a 1:55.903, before Bart Horsten flew to the sharp end of the times with a 1:55.752; his Hitech team-mate Ushijima held station in third as drizzle hung in the air.

Not to be denied for long, Ushijima did set the fastest time again, going nine thousands ahead of Horsten, before Frederick Lubin and Horsten traded the top spot.

The Australian set a 1:55.601 to go over a tenth clear of Lubin, while O’Sullivan and Alvarez made moves in the upper midfield.

The Arden driver went faster still with five remaining, becoming the first to drop under a 1:55.5 on Thursday morning.

Roberto Faria recovered from not setting a time in Session 1 to go four tenths behind Lubin in seventh, the highest-placed of the two Fortec cars running this weekend.

O’Sullivan ended the session fourth, ahead of an impressive Patterson and Sebastian Alvarez, putting all three Hitech cars in the top six.

Faria stayed seventh, ahead of Connor and Aron, with Javier Sagrera rounding out the top ten.

Christian Mansell was 11th after his first taste of EuroFormula Open action at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, ahead of Simmons, Lebbon and Marzorati.

Garfias, Juffali and Mikkel Grundtvig rounded out the times for Thursday morning.

2021 Silverstone GP Second Test Session Results:

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Time/Gap
1	78	Frederick Lubin	GBR	Arden Motorsport	1:55.497
2	50	Bart Horsten	AUS	Hitech GP	+0.081
3	13	Reece Ushijima	JPN	Hitech GP	+0.244
4	51	Zak O’Sullivan	GBR	Carlin	+0.353
5	55	Dexter Patterson	GBR	Douglas Motorsport	+0.388
6	12	Sebastian Alvarez	MEX	Hitech GP	+0.438
7	7	Roberto Faria	BRA	Fortec Motorsport	+0.460
8	27	Alex Connor	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+0.589
9	23	Bryce Aron	USA	Carlin	+0.620
10	3	Javier Sagrera	ESP	Elite Motorsport	+0.790
11	21	Christian Mansell	AUS	Carlin	+0.877
12	18	Ayrton Simmons	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+1.081
13	34	Tom Lebbon	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+1.083
14	81	Max Marzorati	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+1.356
15	99	Jose Garfias	MEX	Elite Motorsport	+1.436
16	10	Reema Juffali	SAU	Douglas Motorsport	+1.440
17	43	Mikkel Grundtvig	DEN	Fortec Motorsport	+2.702