by Russell Atkins

Philip Major may have suffered a hefty 'off' during his first experience of Spa-Francorchamps in an F3 machine with Fortec Motorsport this week, but that still couldn't wipe the grin off the Canadian's face.

The Formula BMW USA graduate had already tested for the front-running squad at Silverstone, but getting out in the car around what is widely recognised as the greatest drivers' circuit of them all, he acknowledged, was something else altogether.

“It's absolutely fabulous!” the 18-year-old enthused, speaking to Crash.net. “With the aero package we've got we carry some awesome speed through some of the corners.

“The last two days have been really good. The conditions have been changeable, but that's quite useful because we can expect to have a dry and a wet race here next year. I'm quite new to F3, so being able to learn the track in these kind of conditions before we race here is great.

“So far I'm loving working with Fortec, and I hope to continue our great relationship together.”

With more possible testing planned in the near future, the Ontario native clearly hopes to land a full-time race seat with the squad next year, alongside the already-confirmed Marcus Ericsson, also in attendance at Spa. Though Major went off towards the end of the two-day test, re-arranging the back end of his car, the impact failed to dampen his spirits.

“We looked at the data afterwards,” he smiled sheepishly, “and I was going just 1km/h faster through the corner that lap. I guess I had been on the absolute limit before then…”