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Points leader Bottas sets pace in Spa free practice

GP3 championship leader Valtteri Bottas set the pace in free practice at Spa on Friday morning

The ART Grand Prix driver moved to the top of the times early in the session, and he was still there when the first rain shower of the weekend hit with 11 minutes remaining.

Shortly before the rain fell, MW Arden's Mitch Evans had been chipping away at the Finn's margin out front. He initially brought it down from 0.9 seconds to 0.6, and he chopped it down to 0.2s with his final flying lap.

James Calado was third in the second ART entry, just ahead of Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Manor) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Status).

Nigel Melker had been Bottas's closest challenger early on, but the RSC Mucke driver slipped to sixth while the times were improving.

Just behind him was Alexander Sims, who currently sits second in the championship. The Status Grand Prix driver was one of the few to stay out on slick tyres when the rain initially fell, and he was only lapping 9s off the pace before the showers got heavier for the final couple of minutes.


Evans was one of the first to venture out on wet weather rubber, but he returned to the pits without completing a flying lap.

GP3 will not have a second practice session this weekend, as the circuit's noise curfew means the on-track action has to finish earlier than at other races. As a compromise, this morning's session was extended to 45 minutes instead of the usual half an hour.

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap
 1.  Valtteri Bottas         ART        2m14.546s
 2.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   2m14.826s  + 0.280s
 3.  James Calado            ART        2m15.093s  + 0.547s
 4.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      2m15.274s  + 0.728s
 5.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status     2m15.343s  + 0.797s
 6.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke  2m15.492s  + 0.946s
 7.  Alexander Sims          Status     2m15.495s  + 0.949s
 8.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden   2m15.510s  + 0.964s
 9.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke  2m15.733s  + 1.187s
10.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status     2m15.851s  + 1.305s
11.  Mattias Laine           Manor      2m15.917s  + 1.371s
12.  Lewis Williamson        MW Arden   2m15.931s  + 1.385s
13.  Nick Yelloly            Atech CRS  2m15.957s  + 1.411s
14.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1     2m16.013s  + 1.467s
15.  Tom Dillmann            Addax      2m16.015s  + 1.469s
16.  Rio Haryanto            Manor      2m16.038s  + 1.492s
17.  Marlon Stockinger       Atech CRS  2m16.203s  + 1.657s
18.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1     2m16.205s  + 1.659s
19.  Zoel Amberg             Atech CRS  2m16.245s  + 1.699s
20.  Conor Daly              Carlin     2m16.429s  + 1.883s
21.  Richie Stanaway         ART        2m16.453s  + 1.907s
22.  Nico Muller             Jenzer     2m16.614s  + 2.068s
23.  Dean Smith              Addax      2m16.833s  + 2.287s
24.  Callum Macleod          Carlin     2m17.002s  + 2.456s
25.  Gabby Chaves            Addax      2m17.037s  + 2.491s
26.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     2m17.044s  + 2.498s
27.  Alex Fontana            Jenzer     2m17.277s  + 2.731s
28.  Daniel Mancinelli       RSC Mucke  2m17.385s  + 2.839s
29.  Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin     2m17.524s  + 2.978s
30.  Thomas Hylkema          Tech 1     2m18.755s  + 4.209s

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