Monza FR3.5: Antonio Felix da Costa fastest in practice
Antonio Felix da Costa led the way during free practice for this weekend's Formula Renault 3.5 season opener at Monza
The Red Bull junior was the first of three drivers to dip under the 1m50s bracket in the closing stages of the second practice session on Friday, as the heavy rain that has fallen at the track all day briefly eased.
Da Costa's lap, just inside the final 20 minutes of practice, knocked morning pacesetter Kevin Magnussen out of top spot.
The 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 grid guide
In the closing few minutes Stoffel Vandoorne and Christopher Zanella also set times under 1m50s, as Magnussen and DAMS team-mate Norman Nato slipped back having held a one-two at the halfway stage of the session.
Nato, who was regularly setting the fastest time through the first sector, responded to the late improvements to climb back to fourth fastest, while Magnussen didn't get involved in chasing a time late on and slipped to seventh.
Magnussen had edged da Costa with a late effort in the morning session, after the Portuguese driver had spent much of the closing stages out front.
Practice two: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Antonio F. da Costa Arden Caterham 1m49.551s 24 2. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 1m49.928s + 0.377s 23 3. Christopher Zanella ISR 1m49.975s + 0.424s 25 4. Norman Nato DAMS 1m50.073s + 0.522s 18 5. Will Stevens P1 Motorsport 1m50.131s + 0.580s 21 6. Nigel Melker Tech 1 1m50.313s + 0.762s 23 7. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1m50.450s + 0.899s 22 8. Matias Laine P1 1m50.592s + 1.041s 18 9. Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1m50.719s + 1.168s 23 10. Lucas Foresti Comtec 1m50.719s + 1.168s 23 11. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1m50.721s + 1.170s 22 12. Oliver Webb Fortec 1m50.806s + 1.255s 25 13. Andre Negrao Draco 1m50.923s + 1.372s 23 14. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m51.151s + 1.600s 25 15. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m51.282s + 1.731s 18 16. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m51.430s + 1.879s 20 17. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m51.529s + 1.978s 26 18. Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 1m51.783s + 2.232s 12 19. Daniil Move Comtec 1m52.194s + 2.643s 18 20. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1m52.298s + 2.747s 24 21. Nico Muller Draco 1m52.374s + 2.823s 13 22. Arthur Pic AV Formula 1m52.480s + 2.929s 18 23. Mihai Marinescu Zeta Corse 1m52.576s + 3.025s 23 24. Yann Cunha AV Formula 1m52.593s + 3.042s 21 25. Emmanuel Piget Zeta Corse 1m52.614s + 3.063s 22 26. Nikolay Martsenko Pons 1m57.352s + 7.801s 7 Practice one: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1m50.041s 2. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1m50.198s + 0.157s 3. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m50.547s + 0.506s 4. Christopher Zanella ISR 1m50.785s + 0.744s 5. Lucas Foresti Comtec 1m50.853s + 0.812s 6. Norman Nato DAMS 1m50.926s + 0.885s 7. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1m51.034s + 0.993s 8. Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1m51.256s + 1.215s 9. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m51.364s + 1.323s 10. Nico Muller Draco 1m51.556s + 1.515s 11. Andre Negrao Draco 1m51.567s + 1.526s 12. Matias Laine P1 1m51.665s + 1.624s 13. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 1m51.783s + 1.742s 14. Oliver Webb Fortec 1m51.807s + 1.766s 15. Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 1m51.833s + 1.792s 16. Will Stevens P1 1m51.839s + 1.798s 17. Nigel Melker Tech 1 1m52.048s + 2.007s 18. Daniil Move Comtec 1m52.099s + 2.058s 19. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m52.462s + 2.421s 20. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m52.509s + 2.468s 21. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1m52.958s + 2.917s 22. Mihai Marinescu Zeta 1m52.981s + 2.940s 23. Arthur Pic AV 1m53.141s + 3.100s 24. Emmanuel Piget Zeta 1m53.939s + 3.898s 25. Yann Cunha AV 1m53.976s + 3.935s 26. Nikolay Martsenko Pons 1m54.691s + 4.650s
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