Sam Bird fastest in Spa Formula Renault 3.5 Friday session

The Mercedes Formula 1 test driver, who took the lead of the championship with victory last week in Monaco, moved to the top of the times early in the session and stayed there until the end.

The Briton's time came under attack in a final flurry of activity, as several cars improved in a seven-minute burst which came after a long red flag following a heavy crash for Arden's Alexander Rossi.

Richie Stanaway, who pipped Rossi to top spot in the morning session, got closest for Lotus, knocking long-time second fastest man Kevin Magnussen (Carlin) back to third. The Dane was one of the few drivers in the top 10 - along with Bird - not to improve his time at the end.

Marco Sorenson rounded off a good day for Lotus by taking fourth, while Kevin Korjus, who had been on the fringes of the top 10 with Tech 1 team-mate Jules Bianchi, jumped into contention in the final minutes and ended up fifth quickest.

Daniil Move (P1) and Nico Muller (Draco) improved a couple of times on their final runs to take sixth and seventh, which completed former championship leader Robin Frijns' fall from fourth to eighth for Fortec in the final few minutes.

Afternoon times:

Pos  Driver              Team        Time       Gap
 1.  Sam Bird            ISR         1m58.838s
 2.  Richie Stanaway     Lotus       1m58.869s  + 0.031s
 3.  Kevin Magnussen     Carlin      1m58.878s  + 0.040s
 4.  Marco Sorensen      Lotus       1m58.895s  + 0.057s
 5.  Kevin Korjus        Tech 1      1m58.901s  + 0.063s
 6.  Daniil Move         P1          1m59.068s  + 0.230s
 7.  Nico Muller         Draco       1m59.071s  + 0.233s
 8.  Robin Frijns        Fortec      1m59.113s  + 0.275s
 9.  Arthur Pic          DAMS        1m59.174s  + 0.336s
10.  Mikhail Aleshin     RFR         1m59.286s  + 0.448s
11.  Carlos Huertas      Fortec      1m59.384s  + 0.546s
12.  Walter Grubmuller   P1          1m59.409s  + 0.571s
13.  Will Stevens        Carlin      1m59.585s  + 0.747s
14.  Nick Yelloly        Comtec      1m59.595s  + 0.757s
15.  Jake Rosenzweig     ISR         1m59.623s  + 0.785s
16.  Jules Bianchi       Tech 1      1m59.626s  + 0.788s
17.  Lucas Foresti       DAMS        2m00.173s  + 1.335s
18.  Alexander Rossi     Arden       2m00.377s  + 1.539s
19.  Andre Negrao        Draco       2m00.619s  + 1.781s
20.  Giovanni Venturini  BVM Target  2m00.738s  + 1.900s
21.  Zoel Amberg         Pons        2m00.812s  + 1.974s
22.  Lewis Williamson    Arden       2m00.975s  + 2.137s
23.  Yann Cunha          Pons        2m01.091s  + 2.253s
24.  Vittorio Ghirelli   Comtec      2m01.120s  + 2.282s
25.  Anton Nebylitskiy   RFR         2m01.385s  + 2.547s
26.  Nikolay Martsenko   BVM Target  2m01.528s  + 2.690s

Morning times:

Pos  Driver              Team        Time       Gap
 1.  Richie Stanaway     Lotus       1m59.441s
 2.  Alexander Rossi     Arden       1m59.769s  + 0.328s
 3.  Sam Bird            ISR         1m59.877s  + 0.436s
 4.  Nico Muller         Draco       1m59.949s  + 0.508s
 5.  Kevin Magnussen     Carlin      1m59.985s  + 0.544s
 6.  Kevin Korjus        Tech 1      1m59.995s  + 0.554s
 7.  Carlos Huertas      Fortec      2m00.024s  + 0.583s
 8.  Arthur Pic          DAMS        2m00.050s  + 0.609s
 9.  Daniil Move         P1          2m00.188s  + 0.747s
10.  Jules Bianchi       Tech 1      2m00.369s  + 0.928s
11.  Robin Frijns        Fortec      2m00.377s  + 0.936s
12.  Anton Nebylitskiy   RFR         2m00.492s  + 1.051s
13.  Nick Yelloly        Comtec      2m00.510s  + 1.069s
14.  Marco Sorensen      Lotus       2m00.578s  + 1.137s
15.  Jake Rosenzweig     ISR         2m00.698s  + 1.257s
16.  Walter Grubmuller   P1          2m00.722s  + 1.281s
17.  Vittorio Ghirelli   Comtec      2m00.992s  + 1.551s
18.  Will Stevens        Carlin      2m01.143s  + 1.702s
19.  Zoel Amberg         Pons        2m01.267s  + 1.826s
20.  Andre Negrao        Draco       2m01.287s  + 1.846s
21.  Mikhail Aleshin     RFR         2m01.320s  + 1.879s
22.  Giovanni Venturini  BVM Target  2m01.385s  + 1.944s
23.  Lewis Williamson    Arden       2m01.428s  + 1.987s
24.  Yann Cunha          Pons        2m01.618s  + 2.177s
25.  Nikolay Martsenko   BVM Target  2m02.086s  + 2.645s
26.  Lucas Foresti       DAMS        2m08.678s  + 9.237s