Manning quickest in Korea despite crash

The winner of last week's Macau Grand Prix was three tenths faster than his closest challenger, Briton Jenson Button, but left his TOM'S team with plenty of work to do after ripping off the right front corner of his car.

'Luckily only my pride is hurt,' said Manning. 'I got to the apex of the corner okay but there is quite a bit of dirt off the racing line and I unfortunately ran wide.

'The car dug into the tyre wall and that was it. Other than that, I have had quite a good day and we will be making a few modifications before qualifying.'

Dutchman Christijan Albers was pleased with his third fastest time but was cursing his luck after suffering a clutch problem in the second practice session on what would have been his fastest lap

'When I need some good fortune something always goes wrong,' said the German Formula Three Champion.

'That lap was three tenths faster until I had the problem, so that is a little disappointing.

'The car feels okay, but the gap to Manning is quite big and it is going to be difficult to match him. The track is nice and it is challenging trying to find the right set-up.'

Briton Andrew Kirkaldy was delighted with his fourth fastest time, especially since he had started the first session with the wrong kind of gear ratios.

'We were way off with our selection, but other than that things have gone well,' he said.

'I'm not pushing that hard at the moment because the most important thing is to keep the car in one piece.'

Briton Marc Hynes was eighth fastest despite going the wrong way on set-up, while Matt Davies, who only arrived in Korea on Thursday night after a late call-up, was 22nd -- but just 2.6 seconds off the pace.