Mirko Bortolotti leads opening Formula 2 practice in Austria
Formula 2 championship leader Mirko Bortolotti got his weekend off to a flying start by setting the pace in the opening free practice session at Spielberg in Austria
The former Ferrari Formula 1 test driver moved to the head of the times midway through the 45-minute session, held in beautiful hot conditions, with a lap of 1m23.312s. Fittingly, it was Swiss driver Christopher Zanella - Bortolotti's nearest challenger in the championship - who set the second-best time, just over 0.2 seconds slower.
Brands Hatch winner Jack Clarke continued his strong recent form by setting the third quickest time, ahead of early-session pacesetter Mihai Marinescu.
Series debutants Rene Binder and Luciano Bacheta racked up the laps, with GP3 refugee Bacheta a promising eighth quickest. Austrian Binder - a German F3 regular - was back in 18th place, 1.4s off Bortolotti's pace.
There were 22 cars taking part in the session with the Theobald brothers - Julian and Johannes - returning after missing the last round at Brands.
Pos Driver Time Gap 1. Mirko Bortolotti 1m23.312s 2. Christopher Zanella 1m23.533s + 0.221s 3. Jack Clarke 1m23.601s + 0.289s 4. Mihai Marinescu 1m23.625s + 0.313s 5. Ramon Pineiro 1m23.887s + 0.575s 6. Benjamin Lariche 1m23.981s + 0.669s 7. Tobias Hegewald 1m23.991s + 0.679s 8. Luciano Bacheta 1m24.041s + 0.729s 9. Alex Brundle 1m24.160s + 0.848s 10. Julian Theobald 1m24.350s + 1.038s 11. Sunghak Mun 1m24.444s + 1.132s 12. Mikkel Mac 1m24.548s + 1.236s 13. James Cole 1m24.555s + 1.243s 14. Johannes Theobald 1m24.576s + 1.264s 15. Miki Monras 1m24.635s + 1.323s 16. Armaan Ebrahim 1m24.661s + 1.349s 17. Parthiva Sureshwaren 1m24.696s + 1.384s 18. Rene Binder 1m24.719s + 1.407s 19. Kelvin Snoeks 1m24.735s + 1.423s 20. Plamen Kralev 1m24.871s + 1.559s 21. Thiemo Storz 1m24.919s + 1.607s 22. Maxim Snegirev 1m25.208s + 1.896s
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