Daniel Juncadella quickest in first Pau practice

The Spaniard, who finished on the podium at the French street circuit last year, played himself in gently before unleashing some quick laps at the end of the 45-minute session to propel his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes to the top.

"On the first laps I was a bit amazed by the track - I had forgotten it was so tricky," said Juncadella.

"Then after that it was a case of understanding the Cooper tyres [this is a round of the British championship, so the European runners have had to switch from their regular Hankook rubber]. But after that it seemed OK - the balance is fine and it's all about driving smoothly here."

British F3 International Series driver Jazeman Jaafar was flinging his Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen around the circuit in extrovert fashion, topping the times early on, but he was edged out by Juncadella and Carlin team-mate Jack Harvey, who was very happy to top the British series runners on his first taste of the track.

"That was a good session," said the Briton. "I've just got to keep it going."

Carlos Sainz Jr made it a trio of Carlin runners at the top of the British series contenders, with Alex Lynn - who learned the circuit last weekend by winning two Historic Formula Ford races - next up in his Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes.

The session was interrupted around a third of the way through when Anglo-Swede Tom Blomqvist crashed his ma-con Motorsport Dallara-Volkswagen. Pietro Fantin failed to set a flying lap time before mechanical problems stopped him on the track.

Meanwhile, Angolan European Championship contender Luis Sa Silva failed to even get to the circuit after destroying his chassis in a testing crash at the nearby Pau-Arnos permanent circuit. He will be out for next weekend's European round at Brands Hatch with a new monocoque.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                  Time               Laps
 1.  Daniel Juncadella   Prema Dallara-Mercedes    1m12.617s           24
 2.  Jack Harvey         Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m12.860s + 0.243   27
 3.  Jazeman Jaafar      Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m12.889s + 0.272   28
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr     Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m13.088s + 0.471   30
 5.  Alex Lynn           Fortec Dallara-Mercedes   1m13.102s + 0.485   28
 6.  Felix Rosenqvist    Mucke Dallara-Mercedes    1m13.187s + 0.570   24
 7.  Raffaele Marciello  Prema Dallara-Mercedes    1m13.206s + 0.589   25
 8.  Pascal Wehrlein     Mucke Dallara-Mercedes    1m13.429s + 0.812   27
 9.  Harry Tincknell     Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m13.518s + 0.901   29
10.  Hannes van AsseldonkFortec Dallara-Mercedes   1m13.775s + 1.158   28
11.  Pipo Derani         Fortec Dallara-Mercedes   1m13.932s + 1.315   25
12.  Michael Lewis       Prema Dallara-Mercedes    1m13.937s + 1.320   25
13.  Felix Serralles     Fortec Dallara-Mercedes   1m13.942s + 1.325   28
14.  Emil Bernstorff     ma-con Dallara-Volkswagen 1m14.185s + 1.568   23
15.  Sven Muller         Prema Dallara-Mercedes    1m14.382s + 1.765   27
16.  Nick McBride        T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    1m14.760s + 2.143   29
17.  Tom Blomqvist       ma-con Dallara-Volkswagen 1m14.837s + 2.220   16
18.  Geoff Uhrhane       Double R Dallara-Mugen    1m15.225s + 2.608*  26
19.  Andrea Roda         Zeller Dallara-Mercedes   1m15.319s + 2.702   27
20.  Fahmi Ilyas         Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m15.391s + 2.774   27
21.  Spike Goddard       T-Sport Dallara-Mugen     1m15.575s + 2.958*  25
22.  Sandro Zeller       Zeller Dallara-Mercedes   1m16.112s + 3.495   25
23.  Duvashen Padayachee Double R Dallara-Mugen    1m17.540s + 4.923*  25
24.  Pietro Fantin       Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen No time              2
*Denotes National Class