Afanasiev Momentum carries him to Valencia Pole Position.

Sergei Afanasiev (Dams) will start from Pole Position for the first of two Valencia races this weekend for the Auto GP Series.

Russian Afanasiev posted a best time of 1m23.436s to secure Pole Position during the final stages of the session. Qualifying saw the top three drivers, Afanasiev, Kevin Ceccon (Ombra Racing) and Adrien Tambay (Campos Racing) all within a tenth of a second, while the top twelve drivers on the grid were covered by eight tenths of a second.

Dams entrant Afanasiev has kept up the momentum he generated last time out at Oschersleben and has secured himself the best opportunity to eat into the Championship advantage which Ceccon has built up.

Pole Sitter Afanasiev said after qualifying: “It was a really hard-fought session, and taking pole when the battle is so hot makes it even better. The summer break was long and I had no testing in the meantime, so when I got back in the car I feared that some of the feeling I had could be lost. Anyway this wasn’t the case at all, after just a few laps I was back into the ‘Oschersleben mood’ and could push really hard. I really want to say thanks to DAMS for giving me such a good car, they know what I want and they always deliver a top job, so they deserve to be praised.”

Lining up alongside the Russian is Ceccon and the Italian driver won’t make it easy for his Championship rivals. Having caused the first of two red flags in the session, he then found the perfect feeling for his car and at the end of qualifying; he was just 0.003s behind Afanasiev, on a 1m23.466s.

The second row of the grid is an all Campos Racing affair, with Tambey ahead of the returning Adam Carroll. Tambay has been all set for Pole Position with five minutes of the session remaining and his 1m23.513s was quick enough to keep Carroll behind him.

Row three will see Samuele Buttarelli (TP Formula) – who is back on form after another Friday where he had issues with the car – and alongside him is Fabio Onidi (Lazuras). Onidi has fully recovered from his hand injury, sustained at Donington Park but he suffered with a lap of grip, as the temperatures are lower today than yesterday.

His Lazuras team-mate, Fabrizio Crestani also suffered from the same problem and will line up seventh, with the returning GP2 race winner, Luca Filippi, starting eighth for Super Nova Racing. He could only watch his times from yesterday on old tyres.

Completing the top ten are Rio Haryanto (Dams) and Giovanni Venturini (Griffitz Durango).

Auto GP Valencia, Qualifying Results:

Position	Driver	Team
1	Sergei Afansiev	Dams
2	Kevin Ceccon	Ombra Racing
3	Adrien Tambey	Campos Racing
4	Adam Carroll	Campos Racing
5	Samuele Buttarelli	TP Formula
6	Fabio Onidi	Lazarus
7	Fabrizio Crestani	Lazarus
8	Luca Filippi	Super Nova Racing
9	Rio Haryanto	Dams
10	Giovanni Venturini	Griffitz Durango
11	Pasquale Di Sabatino	TP Formula
12	Adrian Campos-Jnr	Campos Racing
13	Daniel De Jong	MP Motorsport
14	Francesco Dracone	Ombra Racing
15	Giuseppe Cipriani	Griffitz Durango

Idafar Finishes Rockingham test within Half a Second of the outright Pace.

A gap of five weeks has come to an end – since the last round of the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series took place at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Rockingham sees the resumption of the season and for Menasheh Idafar, he ended the pre event test day within half a second of the outright pace.

Ahead of rounds twenty two, twenty three and twenty four at the Northamptonshire track, the twenty year old was consistently strong at the wheel of his T-Sport run Dallara-Volkswagen F311 and ended the day with the eleventh fastest time – a 1:13.229s.

Idafar set his best time of the day during the opening practice session, as he finished inside the top ten before backing that up with another top twelve time in the second session.

During his final session of the day, his new tyre runs were affected by traffic and thus, he was unable to improve on his morning best time. Nevertheless, he was happy with how the day went as he finished a mere 0.056s away from the top ten and half a second away from the top of the times.

“It’s been a good day, my runs on new tyres got ruined by traffic coming out of the pits in front of me but there’s nothing you can do about that”, said Menasheh, “I’m happy with how things went and the car felt really good, much better than last time, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. ”

Qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s round twenty two takes place at 10.35, with the race due to start at 14.50. Sunday will see rounds twenty three and twenty four run, with the twenty minute round twenty three starting at 11.00 and round twenty four at 14.50. All of the action from Rockingham can be followed via http://www.tsl-timing.com.

Jaafar Tops the Times during Rockingham test for British F3.

Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin) ended the opening day of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series trip to Rockingham on top of the times after the free testing sessions at the Northamptonshire speedway.

The Malaysian driver topped the times during the opening fifty minute session and then backed up his earlier pace by topping the times during the third practice session of the day.

Leading the way during the second session was Brazilian Pietro Fantin. He would ultimately end the way a tenth shy of Jaafar’s pace – which was half a second slower than the Pole Position time set at the circuit last year.

After his performance during the pre event testing, Jaafar said: “It’s a great way to start the weekend,” said the 18-year-old London-based driver. “We have worked hard to get the car where it is and now it is a question of getting my head down and maintaining the pace through qualifying tomorrow. I’m feeling good. Quietly confident.”

The remaining top ten spots were filled by team-mates to Jaafar at Carlin, with Kevin Magnussen finishing the day third, ahead of Rupert Svendsen-Cook – the top Brit – Carlos Huertas of Colombia and Jack Harvey.

Champion Elect, Felipe Nasr ended the day seventh fastest and the final driver to break the 1m13 barrier. Quickest Mercedes powered drivers were the Double R Pairing of Pipo Derani and Scott Pye, while the top ten was rounded out by local driver to Rockingham, William Buller (Fortec Motorsport).

Qualifying ahead of round twenty two takes place tomorrow, with the first of three races taking place later in the day. The two other scheduled races will take place on Sunday, 4 September.

Jackson: I’d rather be Leading than Chasing.

Mat Jackson has openly admitted that he would rather be in his position as the leader of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as the season heads into the business end of the season.

Heading to Fife and Knockhill for rounds nineteen, twenty and twenty-one of the season, Jackson tops the standings by eight points from local hero Gordon Shedden – this is the first time than the Henley-in-Arden driver has led the BTCC standings.

“I’d much sooner be going into an event like Knockhill with an eight point championship lead than having to make up ground. It’s a mad-cap kind of circuit that you love and hate at the same time and it’s also in Shedden’s back yard. He always says it’s not an advantage but he always seems to find something else at Knockhill!” said Jackson.

First up for the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus driver is qualifying – he has the additional hurdle of overcoming the maximum success ballast during the two free practice sessions, qualifying and the first of the three races.

Jackson feels that the team and he have hit the front at just the right time – despite the extra 45kgs of ballast he will have to carry in qualifying.

“I think we’ve hit the front at just the right time and although the ballast will hurt us I’m still aiming for the top eight in qualifying” says Mat. “Qualifying hasn’t been our strongest point this season – I’ve actually carried at least 27kgs in my car for the last five qualifying sessions – but we think we’ve pinpointed why and will be looking to put things right in that area. There’s also a high chance of rain at Knockhill and if it is wet then that could help us a bit although I was slightly amused by Tom Chilton who drove this car last year saying he thinks we might struggle this weekend. From someone whose 90 points behind us in the championship it’s nice he cares so much.

The Knockhill races will once again be shown live on ITV 4, ITV4 HD and itv.com/touringcars and Jackson has assured his fans that he won’t alter his driving style, now that he has the lead of the Championship, in his independently run Ford.

“Our goal has to be to come away still near the top as there’s still a long way to go – there are nine more races after this so now isn’t the time to start thinking of titles and settling for safe points finishes. I won’t be changing my style.

“Sure we’re operating on a tight budget compared to the factory Honda and Chevrolet teams but we are where we are totally on merit. There’s no way we’re going to roll over for them just because they’ve got bigger budgets and greater resources and I actually see no reason why we can’t come out of Knockhill even still ahead in the championship.”

Knockhill, at 1.3 Miles is the second shortest lap of the BTCC season but its spectacular layout means that it is one of the drivers’ and fans favourites.  You can watch Jackson during qualifying live on itv.com/touringcars from 3pm until 3.40pm, with qualifying starting at 3.05pm and running until 3.335pm.

Coverage of the latest three rounds of the season on Sunday will be shown on ITV4, ITV4 HD and itv.com/touringcars – from 11am until 6pm, while Knockhill highlights will be broadcast at 17.30 – 19.00 on Tuesday, on ITV4, 2.25am until 3.50am on Thursday, on ITV1 and ITV1 HD and again on ITV4/ITV4 FD at 16.30 until 18.00 next Saturday.

Triple Eight Look for Scottish Success at Knockhill.

Triple Eight Racing Engineering with Collins Contractors head north to Fife and the 1.3 Mile Knockhill track for the seventh race weekend of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, with a new driver line up after it was announced that Tony Gilham had been forced to withdraw from the team due to budget issues.

Joining Championship Contender at Triple Eight is AirAsia Clio Cup UK Contender, Aron Smith – Smith is the younger brother of former VX Racing driver Gavin Smith.

Smith is a structural engineering student and alongside his studies, has been racing in the Renault Clio Cup. The 2010 season saw him compete out in Italy, and finished fourth in the Italian Clio Cup before returning to the AirAsia Clio Cup UK this season, where he currently lines second with four races left – he has three race victories to his name this season.

Looking ahead to his BTCC debut with Triple Eight, Smith said: “I’m over the moon to be making my BTCC debut with a team with such experience as Triple Eight. I’m certain that they have a very competitive package and I’m equally sure we will work very well together. To get to make my debut at Knockhill makes it even better. The track itself should suit my driving style and now I’m just dying to get out in the car! I know it’ll be a steep learning curve but with the help I’ll be getting from the team I’m sure we can get some good results.”

Nash heads to the Fife circuit on the back of his fourth second place finish of the season last time out at Snetterton. Sitting fifth in the Championship, he is by no means out of contention but he needs a strong weekend at Knockhill if he is to stay in contention.

Speaking ahead of the trip north, Nash said: “I’ve got to qualify as high as I can for sure, but anything can happen at Knockhill and the only thing you can guarantee is that they’ll be lots of action.”

“The points are close at the top and we’re still in with a shout of the Championship. I know that I need to keep pushing and have got little to lose by having a go while guys like Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal might feel a little more circumspect. With Jason Plato around though, I guess that’s unlikely. It should be fun!”

Triple Eight Chairman, Ian Harrison reckons the trip to Knockhill will be a good one for the team, as it is a circuit which has always favoured the Vectras.

He said ahead of the trip across the border: “I think Knockhill will be quite good. The cars are always good around Knockhill. We’ve got more power this year than we had last year because the drag up the hill used to be the killer for us so that’s going to help. Chassis wise I still think we’ve got the best car out there”.

“James is driving very well too this season. He drove the best laps he’s ever driven for the team last time out at Snetterton and is maturing nicely into a top contender. I’m pleased too that we’ve managed to sign Aron for this one. He’s an impressive young driver and I think he and James will make a great team, so high hopes.”