Spa GP3: Luca Ghiotto leads Antonio Fuoco in practice
Championship leader Luca Ghiotto set the pace in GP3 practice at Spa ahead of Ferrari protege Antonio Fuoco
Ghiotto led the way early along with Trident team-mates Artur Janosz, who had a spin early on at the Bus Stop chicane, and series returnee Beitske Visser.
But as the track conditions continued to improve so did laptimes and they were soon overhauled by the Jenzer Motorsport trio of Pal Varhaug, Ralph Boschung and Matheo Tuscher.
Ghiotto looked ominous though and improved right up until the chequered flag fell, eventually setting a time of 2m06.005s.
Carlin driver Fuoco clinched second place on his final lap, jumping from a lowly 12th to be 0.341 seconds behind.
Boschung, Varhaug and Tuscher had to settle for third, fourth and fifth respectively following their early fight near the top of the times.
Koiranen GP driver Matt Parry was another late improver in sixth as was Status Grand Prix's Alex Fontana, who had a big moment when he ran wide at Blanchimont that sent him into a spin on his way to seventh.
Mitch Gilbert, Janosz and Alex Palou rounded out the top 10.
Nissan protege Jann Mardenborough and Adderly Fong both had huge separate incidents at Eau Rouge.
The pair drifted wide onto the painted sausage kerbs, which ruined the underside of both their cars and sent them briefly airborne.
PRACTICE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 2m06.005s | - | 15 |
| 2 | Antonio Fuoco | Carlin | 2m06.346s | 0.341s | 15 |
| 3 | Ralph Boschung | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m06.673s | 0.668s | 17 |
| 4 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m06.829s | 0.824s | 18 |
| 5 | Matheo Tuscher | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m06.953s | 0.948s | 15 |
| 6 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | 2m07.084s | 1.079s | 15 |
| 7 | Alex Fontana | Status Grand Prix | 2m07.267s | 1.262s | 15 |
| 8 | Mitch Gilbert | Carlin | 2m07.282s | 1.277s | 14 |
| 9 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 2m07.390s | 1.385s | 14 |
| 10 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 2m07.568s | 1.563s | 14 |
| 11 | Jann Mardenborough | Carlin | 2m07.585s | 1.580s | 14 |
| 12 | Beitske Visser | Trident | 2m07.644s | 1.639s | 15 |
| 13 | Alex Bosak | Arden International | 2m08.013s | 2.008s | 16 |
| 14 | Emil Bernstorff | Arden International | 2m08.231s | 2.226s | 16 |
| 15 | Kevin Ceccon | Arden International | 2m08.525s | 2.520s | 12 |
| 16 | Zaid Ashkanani | Campos Racing | 2m08.619s | 2.614s | 15 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | ART Grand Prix | 2m08.799s | 2.794s | 17 |
| 18 | Marvin Kirchhofer | ART Grand Prix | 2m08.940s | 2.935s | 16 |
| 19 | Sandy Stuvik | Status Grand Prix | 2m09.572s | 3.567s | 16 |
| 20 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | 2m09.602s | 3.597s | 16 |
| 21 | Adderly Fong | Koiranen GP | 2m10.025s | 4.020s | 12 |
| 22 | Alfonso Celis | ART Grand Prix | 2m10.132s | 4.127s | 17 |
| 23 | Seb Morris | Status Grand Prix | - | - | 1 |
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