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Jules Bianchi leads Hungaroring Renault 3.5 free practice

Jules Bianchi led the way in Formula Renault 3.5 free practice at the Hungaroring on Friday

The Ferrari junior driver, who like championship rival Sam Bird was in Formula 1 action at this week's Magny-Cours Young Driver Test, moved to the head of the times in the final five minutes.

Before then the Tech 1 man hadn't been a factor at all near the front of the field, but on his final run he put together a short sequence of impressive laps, going even faster as the session entered its final minute.

Carlin's Kevin Magnussen improved at around the same time as Bianchi to go second, as both deposed morning pace-setter Antonio Felix da Costa.

The Red Bull-backed driver, who led the way in a wet first session of the day, eventually finished the afternoon fourth quickest as Fortec's championship leader Robin Frijns made a last-minute jump up the order to take third.

Da Costa's Arden Caterham team-mate Alexander Rossi ended the day with the fifth best time after he had enjoyed a brief spell at the top before da Costa and Marco Sorensen kicked off the late-session excitement with just over a quarter of an hour to go.

Sorensen, who briefly led the way before da Costa deposed him, was down to sixth by the end.

While title frontrunners Bianchi and Frijns opted for a quick run at the end of the day, the other man in the championship fight - Sam Bird - didn't follow their lead and ended proceedings in 14th place.

Of the championship's three newcomers this weekend, local hero Tamas Pal Kiss had the best day as he went 12th quickest. GP3 title contenders Daniel Abt (23rd) and Aaro Vainio (25th) had more low-key starts to their FR3.5 careers.

Practice one:

Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap
 1.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Arden Caterham  1m50.543s
 2.  Marco Sorensen          Lotus           1m50.823s  + 0.280s
 3.  Sam Bird                ISR             1m51.024s  + 0.481s
 4.  Robin Frijns            Fortec          1m51.207s  + 0.664s
 5.  Mikhail Aleshin         RFR             1m51.215s  + 0.672s
 6.  Arthur Pic              DAMS            1m51.320s  + 0.777s
 7.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin          1m51.352s  + 0.809s
 8.  Kevin Korjus            Lotus           1m51.633s  + 1.090s
 9.  Zoel Amberg             Pons            1m51.706s  + 1.163s
10.  Walter Grubmuller       P1              1m51.970s  + 1.427s
11.  Nico Muller             Draco           1m52.055s  + 1.512s
12.  Alexander Rossi         Arden Caterham  1m52.133s  + 1.590s
13.  Jules Bianchi           Tech 1          1m52.266s  + 1.723s
14.  Nick Yelloly            Comtec          1m52.393s  + 1.850s
15.  Daniil Move             P1              1m52.819s  + 2.276s
16.  Tamas Pal Kiss          BVM Target      1m52.885s  + 2.342s
17.  Lucas Foresti           DAMS            1m53.165s  + 2.622s
18.  Will Stevens            Carlin          1m53.258s  + 2.715s
19.  Jake Rosenzweig         ISR             1m53.370s  + 2.827s
20.  Andre Negrao            Draco           1m53.648s  + 3.105s
21.  Carlos Huertas          Fortec          1m53.659s  + 3.116s
22.  Daniel Abt              Tech 1          1m53.977s  + 3.434s
23.  Yann Cunha              Pons            1m54.517s  + 3.974s
24.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Comtec          1m54.744s  + 4.201s
25.  Aaro Vainio             RFR             1m54.975s  + 4.432s
26.  Nikolay Martsenko       BVM Target      1m56.379s  + 5.836s

Practice two:

Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap
 1.  Jules Bianchi           Tech 1          1'29.086
 2.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin          1m29.186s  + 0.100s
 3.  Robin Frijns            Fortec          1m29.652s  + 0.566s
 4.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Arden Caterham  1m29.661s  + 0.575s
 5.  Alexander Rossi         Arden Caterham  1m29.668s  + 0.582s
 6.  Marco Sorensen          Lotus           1m29.836s  + 0.750s
 7.  Nick Yelloly            Comtec          1m29.865s  + 0.779s
 8.  Arthur Pic              DAMS            1m29.898s  + 0.812s
 9.  Nico Muller             Draco           1m29.958s  + 0.872s
10.  Will Stevens            Carlin          1m29.964s  + 0.878s
11.  Daniil Move             P1              1m30.001s  + 0.915s
12.  Tamas Pal Kiss          BVM Target      1m30.152s  + 1.066s
13.  Carlos Huertas          Fortec          1m30.185s  + 1.099s
14.  Sam Bird                ISR             1m30.189s  + 1.103s
15.  Andre Negrao            Draco           1m30.294s  + 1.208s
16.  Kevin Korjus            Lotus           1m30.384s  + 1.298s
17.  Walter Grubmuller       P1              1m30.429s  + 1.343s
18.  Zoel Amberg             Pons            1m30.521s  + 1.435s
19.  Jake Rosenzweig         ISR             1m30.524s  + 1.438s
20.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Comtec          1m30.772s  + 1.686s
21.  Lucas Foresti           DAMS            1m30.877s  + 1.791s
22.  Mikhail Aleshin         RFR             1m30.888s  + 1.802s
23.  Daniel Abt              Tech 1          1m31.314s  + 2.228s
24.  Yann Cunha              Pons            1m32.010s  + 2.924s
25.  Aaro Vainio             RFR             1m32.698s  + 3.612s
26.  Nikolay Martsenko       BVM Target      1m35.689s  + 6.603s

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