Carlo van Dam, who finished third in the 2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, has enjoyed a productive test session with the Signature-Plus Formula Three team as he evaluates his options for the new season.

van Dam impressed on his first run with the team at Magny-Cours as he posted the fastest lap during the test as the 20-year-old looks at trying to secure a seat in the F3 Euroseries for 2007.

van Dam did a total of two runs on rain tyres on a wet track in the morning, before changing to slicks later in the day. After the Dutch driver got used to the Mercedes powered car and tried several changes to the set-up he tried to put in a fast lap time just after the lunch.

His fastest lap around the French Grand Prix circuit was a 1min 35.0secs, quicker than Yann Clairay who was also testing with the team, before a red flag forced the team to call it a day as the tyres on his car had reached their peak.

“It was a really positive day of testing,” van Dam said. “I would have liked to do some extra miles to fine-tune the car because Magny-Cours has a lot of challenging turns in which you really have to find the limit in a Formula Three car. It is a pity that we had to abandon the session after yet another red flag, because if I would have been able to finish the run we could have gone half a second faster. Nevertheless the team and I worked together very well and we found a good balance in the car.

“I did a total of 65 laps and managed to adapt easily to the changing track conditions. The purpose of this test was to see how the combination 'Signature-Carlo van Dam' works and at this point I am very optimistic about that. This is certainly a serious option for 2007. I hope I get the chance to prove myself in this Formula Three series, but the help of our sponsors is essential for that.

“There has been contact with Philippe Sinault, team director of Signature-Plus for quite some time and therefore I would really like to thank him and his team for giving me this opportunity!”