Hitech's Deagen Fairclough recorded a stunning unofficial GB3 lap record time on the first day of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit pre-season test on Tuesday.
The British driver set a 1m49.198s in the second of the day's three sessions, almost 3.6 seconds quicker than the official lap record for the series at the circuit, and 2.449s faster than last year's pole position lap. His time meant he lapped the circuit at an average speed of over 120mph.
That was enough to put him 0.194s clear of Rodin's Maxim Rehm, with VRD Racing's Nikita Bedrin third during his first appearance in official pre-season testing.
Donington Park pace-setter Martin Molnar was fourth for Rodin on day one, 0.268s clear of the lead Elite Motorsport car of Kyuho Lee, with Xcel Motorsport's Lucas Fluxa completing the top-six.
Hillspeed's Peter Bouzinelos was the final driver within a second of Fairclough's unofficial lap record time.
Flynn Jackes continued his encouraging start to pre-season testing with the eighth quickest time, 0.012s ahead of Hitech's Noah Lisle, with the second VRD machine of Patricio Gonzalez completing the top-10.
Each of the top-10 recorded their best times in the second session, with the third interrupted by constant drizzle, which was a threat throughout the day.
With the upgraded Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car lapping significantly quicker at all venues visited so far in pre-season testing, the pace improvement was further highlighted by the fact that the top-22 drivers today were all inside last year's best pole position time, set by Freddie Slater.
Testing continues tomorrow with three further sessions.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone pre-season test day one top-10 result:
1. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 1m49.198s
2. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +0.194s
3. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, +0.384s
4. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, +0.595s
5. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, +0.863s
6. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +0.951s
7. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, +0.971s
8. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +1.014s
9. Noah Lisle, Hitech, +1.026s
10. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +1.143s
Click here for full result.