Varhaug tops Auto GP practice one

Fresh from victory in the Hungaroring's reversed-grid race, the Norwegian's time of 1m32.655s was three tenths faster than championship leader Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.

"I was at Portimao in 2009 with GP2, which was very useful, but it's Pal's first time here," said Virtuosi UK's Andy Roache. "He is very confident at the moment and is driving well. Tyre management plays a big part in the races. Yesterday Pal was just playing himself in on old mediums, which meant we had a good set this morning."

Super Nova racer Quaife-Hobbs had appeared in dominant form during Portimao's Thursday test, ending the day a second clear of the opposition and 0.012s quicker than Varhaug's Friday morning time.

Quaife-Hobbs led the way for much of free practice, before Varhaug moved into top spot with five minutes of the half hour session remaining.

After a troubled test, Italian Formula 3 champion Sergio Campana was third fastest in practice one for MLR71 ahead of Euronova Racing's Russian teenager Sergey Sirotkin.

Returning to Auto GP after his Monaco GP2 outing, Brazilian Victor Guerin claimed fifth, albeit over a second adrift of Varhaug.

Hungaroring podium finisher Facu Regalia completed the top six for Campos Racing. Auto GP debutant Juan Carlos Sistos was a solid ninth. The European Formula 3 Open regular finished less than a tenth behind his Zele Racing team-mate Sten Pentus.

Pos  Driver               Team         Time       Gap
 1.  Pal Varhaug          Virtuosi UK  1m32.655s
 2.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs  Super Nova   1m32.971s  + 0.316s
 3.  Sergio Campana       MLR 71       1m33.000s  + 0.345s
 4.  Sergey Sirotkin      Euronova     1m33.589s  + 0.934s
 5.  Victor Guerin        Super Nova   1m33.656s  + 1.001s
 6.  Facu Regalia         Campos       1m34.291s  + 1.636s
 7.  Daniel de Jong       Manor MP     1m34.389s  + 1.734s
 8.  Sten Pentus          Zele         1m34.393s  + 1.738s
 9.  Juan Carlos Sistos   Zele         1m34.425s  + 1.770s
10.  Chris van der Drift  Manor MP     1m34.628s  + 1.973s
11.  Giancarlo Serenelli  Ombra        1m34.787s  + 2.132s
12.  Giuseppe Cipriani    Campos       1m34.928s  + 2.273s
13.  Antonio Spavone      Euronova     1m35.060s  + 2.405s
14.  Maxim Snegirev       Campos       1m35.475s  + 2.820s
15.  Francesco Dracone    Virtuosi UK  1m35.974s  + 3.319s
16.  Michele la Rosa      MLR 71       1m36.853s  + 4.198s