Brendon Hartley admitted he was pleased to qualify on the front row of the grid for both British F3 International Series races at
Thruxton after securing a pole position and a second place for the two races in Hampshire.
In two sessions dominated by the Carlin team, the young Red Bull-backed Kiwi produced a confident display in his Mercedes-powered Dallara despite completing fewer laps in both sessions than any of his rivals.
Hartley used only nine laps during the opening session of the weekend to secure a place alongside team-mate Jaime Alguersuari on the front row for race one – just 0.025secs behind the Spaniard – and then needed only seven laps to take pole for race two, leaving him well set for a strong race day.
"I'm quite happy with how it went," he said. "Pole position isn't vital here but we did the fewest laps in both sessions and that means we have been able to save tyres for race day.
"Circuit conditions were totally different to the testing we did here when it was wet, but there was no need to go out and do a lot of laps, so we did what we needed to do as there are no points on offer for qualifying.
"We have to try and break the tow in the races as it's a bit like Monza when it comes to overtaking, but hopefully having my team-mates around will help - as long as everyone uses their heads."
