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Oxia Carlin driver Sam Abay will start rounds 3 and 4 of the 2008 British

Formula 3 Championship from 9th and 5th on the grid, following two

frantically fought qualifying sessions at the Croft circuit in North

Yorkshire.

The youngster, who competes in his second Formula 3 meeting this weekend,

put on a mature display in qualifying, despite admitting he wasn't able to

make the most of his tyres in the first session.  Eventually Abay secured a

respectable 9th place starting position in the highly competitive field of

29 cars.

The second session saw the Australian rookie top the time sheet for much of

the 30 minutes of qualifying, finally claiming the 5th grid position,

two-tenths of a second away from the eventual pole time.

"The window in which the tyres are at their optimum for a quick lap is very

narrow.  The approach you have to use in qualifying is quite different from

what I've been used to in Formula BMW. Naturally this is an area which I'll

be looking to improve on as we gain more experience, but it's good to start

the weekend with two solid qualifying positions." said Abay.

QUALIFYING - RACE ONE (Top 10)

1.  Marcus Ericsson (SWE)           1:12.733

2.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:12.867

3.  Sebastien Hohenthal (SWE)     1:12.937

4.  Michael Devaney (IRL)             1:12.965

5.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:12.979

6.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.015

7.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.077

8.  Ricardo Teixeira (ANG)            1:13.077

9.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.142

10.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)         1:13.222

QUALIFYING - RACE TWO (Top 10)

1.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.237

2.  Marcus Ericsson (SWE)           1:13.280

3.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:13.446

4.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.495

5.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.502

6.  Atte Mustonen (FIN)               1:13.566

7.  Sebastian Hohenthal (SWE)     1:13.589

8.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:13.649

9.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)           1:13.720

10.  Alistair Jackson (GBR)           1:13.794