Chris Dittmann Racing's Josh Skelton started his debut BRDC British F3 weekend in ideal fashion, after setting the fastest time in this morning's opening one hour test session ahead of the delayed season opener at Oulton Park.
The 19-year-old set three laps good enough for top spot towards the end of the session, with his time of 1m32.991s just 0.002s quicker than Double R Racing's Louis Foster, with Douglas Motorsport's sophomore driver Ulysse de Pauw completing the top-three in the first session. De Pauw's teammate Manaf Hijjawi, the first Jordanian driver in British F3 was fourth, just a thousandth of a second faster than Lanan Racing's Bart Horsten, with Kiern Jewiss sixth for Douglas Motorsport.
Hitech GP make their BRDC British F3 debut this weekend, and started off with American Reece Ushijima setting the seventh quickest time, within six tenths of the overall pace, while Kush Maini, who was third overall in British F3 in 2018 was eighth, 0.016s further back.
Returnee Benjamin Pedersen was ninth for Double R Racing, and set exactly the same time as reigning British F3 iRacing champion Nico Varrone, who completed the top-10 for Chris Dittmann Racing. Lanan Racing pair Josh Mason and Piers Prior were next up, and well clear of Carlin duo Nazim Azman and Guilherme Peixoto, with Peixoto only completing three laps. Hillspeed's Sasakorn Chaimongkol didn't set a lap time, but completed four exploratory laps of the Cheshire circuit ahead of his third season in the championship for the Derbyshire team.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Oulton Park, Thursday test session one result:
1. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, 1m32.991s
2. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.002s
3. Ulysse de Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.409s
4. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +0.516s
5. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.517s
6. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.531s
7. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.578s
8. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.594s
9. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +0.727s
10. Nico Varrone, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.727s
11. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +0.999s
12. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +1.115s
13. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +3.204s
14. Guilherme Peixoto, Carlin, +9.287s
15. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, no representative time
