Lancaster tops Le Mans practice

Lancaster's Friday morning time of 1m27.620s provided a 0.1s advantage over GP2 man Edoardo Mortara.

The Italian, replacing Brendon Hartley, is set to embark on his maiden outing with Tech 1 Racing, having made one previous World Series start for SG Formula.

Fairuz Fauzy was third fastest for Fortec Motorsport and again optimistic over his race prospects.

Friday's second, hour-long, practice in the afternoon was disrupted by torrential rain and three red flags. Bertrand Baguette benefited from some intense early laps when the circuit was still dry to top the timesheets on 1m27.833s, almost a second clear of Draco team-mate Marco Barba.

Heavy rainfall ten minutes into the session prohibited any improvements in lap times, leaving championship leader Marcos Martinez unable to progress on an unrepresentative 25th position.

Lancaster impressed in the wet running, it being his first opportunity to sample the car in such conditions. The Carlin duo of Monaco winner Oliver Turvey, and expected Toro Rosso Formula 1 race driver Jaime Alguersuari, were equally formidable.

James Walker, second in the standings and six points adrift of Martinez, sat out the morning as he recuperated from a nasty injury to his throat, caused by a lodged piece of steak on Wednesday.

"If you had asked me this morning if I would be racing I would have said 'no chance,'" said Walker. "I was examined with an endoscope yesterday afternoon and I feel really rough, my neck is killing me. They don't give you a full anaesthetic, only a sedative, and I think I have had a bad reaction to that as well.

"I am just doing a few laps to see how I feel. I put a neck support on as I am having trouble supporting my head. When you're second in the championship, if by racing you pick up a point, then it is worth going out. I was in hospital at Le Mans on Wednesday night, and I am only now having my first food in two days."

Walker's P1 Motorsport team have their 2008 champion, Giedo van der Garde, on hand over the weekend to assist with the progress of the number six car, handled by the improving Russian Daniil Move.

In his maiden World Series event, current Racing Engineering GP2 driver Dani Clos ended the day in 11th and 19th.

"I am one of the least experienced guys in GP2 in terms of kilometres covered, as I did not take part in the pre-season GP2 Asia series," said Clos.

"It was, therefore, a good call when Epsilon Euskadi contacted me to ask if I could drive here. The differences between the World Series and GP2 cars that I am getting used to are the weight distribution and how to use the brakes.

"I have raced at Le Mans before in the Formula 3 Euro Series last year and finished P2 - not P1 because the race didn't go to full distance. I really don't mind what the weather does here for the races. My second World Series race at Portimao will be really important as it is also hosting the last GP2 race."

Pos  Driver               Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Jon Lancaster        Comtec           1m27.620s          
 2.  Edoardo Mortara      Tech 1           1m27.751s  + 0.131s
 3.  Fairuz Fauzy         Fortec           1m27.808s  + 0.188s
 4.  Bertrand Baguette    Draco            1m27.872s  + 0.252s
 5.  Miguel Molina        Ultimate         1m27.949s  + 0.329s
 6.  Marcos Martinez      Pons             1m28.054s  + 0.434s
 7.  Chris van der Drift  Epsilon Euskadi  1m28.224s  + 0.604s
 8.  Charles Pic          Tech 1           1m28.339s  + 0.719s
 9.  Jaime Alguersuari    Carlin           1m28.439s  + 0.819s
10.  Filip Salaquarda     Prema            1m28.469s  + 0.849s
11.  Dani Clos            Epsilon Euskadi  1m28.478s  + 0.858s
12.  Oliver Turvey        Carlin           1m28.525s  + 0.905s
13.  Daniil Move          P1               1m28.628s  + 1.008s
14.  Pasquale di Sabatino RC               1m28.913s  + 1.293s
15.  Guillaume Moreau     SG               1m29.224s  + 1.604s
16.  Adrian Zaugg         Interwetten      1m29.254s  + 1.634s
17.  Greg Mansell         Ultimate         1m29.439s  + 1.819s
18.  Sten Pentus          Fortec           1m29.560s  + 1.940s
19.  Julian Leal          Prema            1m29.759s  + 2.139s
20.  Anton Nebylitskiy    SG               1m30.047s  + 2.427s
21.  Marco Barba          Draco            1m30.122s  + 2.502s
22.  Mihai Marinescu      Interwetten      1m31.446s  + 3.826s
23.  Federico Leo         Pons             1m31.645s  + 4.025s
24.  Cristiano Morgado    Comtec           1m33.164s  + 5.544s
25.  James Walker         P1               No time