Pineiro fastest in first F2 practice
Spain's Ramon Pineiro set the pace in Formula 2's opening practice session at Spa-Francorchamps
In cold and slightly damp conditions, the 19-year-old put in a late surge to move into the top spot with a 2m11.434s. That demoted Silverstone race winner Mirko Bortolotti into second, the Italian finishing just over 0.2 seconds shy of Pineiro's benchmark.
"I wasn't pushing my hardest because I knew the difference on the damp area would be the key," Pineiro reflected.
"There were three corners that were still wet, but I got a good set up and it's the first time I've raced here with a low downforce set up. Hopefully it will be dry in the next session and we'll keep working."
Behind the lead duo, Jack Clarke edged out fellow Briton Will Bratt by just over one tenth of a second to claim third fastest, with Mihai Marinescu in fifth the only other driver to finish within one second of Pineiro's time.
Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks finished sixth fastest, fractions ahead of Tobias Hegewald - who took a clean sweep when F2 last visited the circuit in 2009 - in seventh.
Championship leader and Magny-Cours double race winner Christopher Zanella meanwhile ended the session eighth fastest, ahead of Germany's Thiemo Storz and Spain's Miki Monras.
Pos Driver Time Gap 1. Ramon Pineiro 2m11.434s 2. Mirko Bortolotti 2m11.660s + 0.226s 3. Jack Clarke 2m11.903s + 0.469s 4. Will Bratt 2m11.999s + 0.565s 5. Mihai Marinescu 2m12.166s + 0.732s 6. Kelvin Snoeks 2m12.469s + 1.035s 7. Tobias Hegewald 2m12.503s + 1.069s 8. Christopher Zanella 2m12.615s + 1.181s 9. Thiemo Storz 2m13.186s + 1.752s 10. Miki Monras 2m13.287s + 1.853s 11. Alex Brundle 2m13.300s + 1.866s 12. Mikkel Mac 2m13.503s + 2.069s 13. Johannes Theobald 2m14.366s + 2.932s 14. Julian Theobald 2m14.483s + 3.049s 15. Armaan Ebrahim 2m14.578s + 3.144s 16. Benjamin Lariche 2m14.983s + 3.549s 17. Parthiva Sureshwaren 2m15.119s + 3.685s 18. Jose Luis Abadin 2m15.344s + 3.910s 19. Plamen Kralev 2m15.779s + 4.345s 20. James Cole 2m16.941s + 5.507s 21. Sunghak Mun 2m17.431s + 5.997s 22. Jordan King 2m18.509s + 7.075s 23. Maxim Snegirev 2m22.619s + 11.185s
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