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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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