Wittmann tops Pau practice

The German recorded a lap of 1m12.932s in 45 minutes of running this morning, before lowering the benchmark to 1m12.197s in this afternoon's half-hour session.

Carlos Munoz completed a Signature one-two, 0.133 seconds adrift of Wittmann. Philippe Sinault's Signature team has an enviable record at the Bearn venue, including a victory in the category's last visit to Pau, with current Audi DTM racer Edoardo Mortara, in 2008.

An improved effort from Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar helped the Malaysian edge out championship leader Roberto Merhi [Prema] and end the day in third. Spaniard Merhi was second to Wittmann this morning. Compatriot and team-mate Daniel Juncadella had a minor spin in the first session and was unable to restart after his Mercedes engine stalled.

German F3 champion, and last minute Carlin GP3 departure, Tom Dillmann took ninth for Motopark Academy.

Double R's Marko Asmer showed a few signs of cockpit rustiness by finding the barriers this morning. The 2007 British F3 champion has done precious little racing since a spell in GP2 in 2008.

Practice one:

Pos  Driver             Team/Car               Time       Gap
 1.  Marco Wittmann     Signature Dallara-VW   1m12.932s
 2.  Roberto Merhi      Prema Dallara-Merc     1m13.065s  + 0.133s
 3.  Carlos Munoz       Signature Dallara-VW   1m13.243s  + 0.311s
 4.  Daniel Juncadella  Prema Dallara-Merc     1m13.284s  + 0.352s
 5.  Laurens Vanthoor   Signature Dallara-VW   1m13.397s  + 0.465s
 6.  Daniel Abt         Signature Dallara-VW   1m13.439s  + 0.507s
 7.  Tom Dillmann       Motopark Dallara-VW    1m13.533s  + 0.601s
 8.  Marko Asmer        Double R Dallara-Merc  1m13.553s  + 0.621s
 9.  Jazeman Jaafar     Carlin Dallara-VW      1m13.916s  + 0.984s
10.  Pipo Derani        Double R Dallara-Merc  1m14.054s  + 1.122s
11.  Kimiya Sato        Motopark Dallara-VW    1m14.466s  + 1.534s
12.  Carlos Huertas     Carlin Dallara-VW      1m14.473s  + 1.541s
13.  Richard Bradley    Carlin Dallara-VW      1m14.638s  + 1.706s

Practice two:

Pos  Driver             Team/Car               Time       Gap
 1.  Marco Wittmann     Signature Dallara-VW   1m12.197s
 2.  Carlos Munoz       Signature Dallara-VW   1m12.330s  + 0.133s
 3.  Jazeman Jaafar     Carlin Dallara-VW      1m12.481s  + 0.284s
 4.  Roberto Merhi      Prema Dallara-Merc     1m12.505s  + 0.308s
 5.  Laurens Vanthoor   Signature Dallara-VW   1m12.559s  + 0.362s
 6.  Daniel Abt         Signature Dallara-VW   1m12.578s  + 0.381s
 7.  Daniel Juncadella  Prema Dallara-Merc     1m12.622s  + 0.425s
 8.  Pipo Derani        Double R Dallara-Merc  1m12.685s  + 0.488s
 9.  Tom Dillmann       Motopark Dallara-VW    1m12.905s  + 0.708s
10.  Marko Asmer        Double R Dallara-Merc  1m13.135s  + 0.938s
11.  Kimiya Sato        Motopark Dallara-VW    1m13.245s  + 1.048s
12.  Richard Bradley    Carlin Dallara-VW      1m13.488s  + 1.291s
13.  Carlos Huertas     Carlin Dallara-VW      1m13.978s  + 1.781s