Afanasiev tops Oschersleben practice

The 22-year-old Russian finished second and fourth in the two Formula Master races at the German circuit last season, and used his track knowledge to set the quickest time this morning.

Oschersleben first-timer Dean Stoneman was second - the only other driver to break into the 1m21s - with Kelvin Snoeks (another driver to race here last year in Formula Master) third.

Both Stoneman and championship leader Jolyon Palmer, who finished fourth, are now quickly up to speed for the penultimate weekend of season. They are separated by just four points at the top.

Kazim Vasiliauskas finished on the podium in F2 at Oschersleben last year and was fifth this morning, ahead of Jack Clarke who scored his second best result of 2009 at Oschersleben.

Expected front runners Will Bratt, Philipp Eng and Benjamin Bailly were only 14th, 16th and 17th.

F2 newcomer Johannes Theobald was 11th fastest, while Natalia Kowalska and Tom Gladdis are not racing this weekend.

Pos  Driver               Time               Laps
 1.  Sergei Afanasiev     1m21.878s            18
 2.  Dean Stoneman        1m21.907s  + 0.029   14
 3.  Kelvin Snoeks        1m22.168s  + 0.290   19
 4.  Jolyon Palmer        1m22.344s  + 0.466   20
 5.  K.Vasiliauskas       1m22.383s  + 0.505   16
 6.  Jack Clarke          1m22.429s  + 0.551   21
 7.  Ricardo Teixeira     1m22.458s  + 0.580   20
 8.  Benjamin Lariche     1m22.514s  + 0.636   18
 9.  Armaan Ebrahim       1m22.548s  + 0.670   17
10.  J.Theobald           1m22.657s  + 0.779   19
11.  Nicola de Marco      1m22.764s  + 0.886   16
12.  Julian Theobald      1m22.771s  + 0.893   19
13.  Will Bratt           1m23.126s  + 1.248   19
14.  Mihai Marinescu      1m23.200s  + 1.322   19
15.  Philipp Eng          1m23.313s  + 1.435   14
16.  Benjamin Bailly      1m23.366s  + 1.488   17
17.  Plamen Kralev        1m23.880s  + 2.002   17
18.  Ivan Samarin         1m24.029s  + 2.151   19