Soucek leads Superleague practice

Soucek's best lap of 1:17.903 came at the death of a frantic final few minutes of running, as most drivers tried to make the most of limited running on slick tyres.

The 2005 Spanish Formula 3 champion leapt to the top of the timesheets, on a damp but gradually drying track, and stayed there for the final 15 minutes as he gradually reduced his fastest time while others struggled to keep up.

Liverpool's Adrian Valles lapped in 1:18.925 - good enough for second, while series debutant Paul Meijer finished the session an excellent third fastest, a further 0.5 seconds slower, in the Borussia Dortmand car.

The championship leading Beijing Guoan car was fourth fastest as Davide Rigon lapped 0.2 seconds slower than Meijer.

Rangers' Ryan Dalziel set the 13th fastest time, just ahead of Tottenham's Duncan Tappy, who struggled with braking technique throughout practice.

A loose driveshaft prevented Anderlecht's Craig Dolby from completing the last and fastest part of free practice, so he finished bottom of the timesheets.

Soucek also topped an earlier wet session by just under 0.1 seconds from Sevilla's Borja Garcia, winner of the second race at Donington Park in August, who would have been fastest in the wet quite comfortably but for a poor final sector on his best lap.

AC Milan's Robert Doornbos, a winner last time out at the Nurburgring, was anonymous for much of free practice after going the wrong way with set-up. The former Red Bull Formula One racer set the ninth fastest time in the second session and finished 12th quickest in the first.

Pos  Driver                 Team               Time         Gap
 1.  Andy Soucek            Atletico Madrid    1:17.903
 2.  Adrian Valles          Liverpool          1:18.925  +1.022
 3.  Paul Meijer            Borussia Dortmund  1:19.489  +1.586
 4.  Davide Rigon           Beijing Guoan      1:19.604  +1.701
 5.  Maximilian Wissel      FC Basel           1:19.810  +1.907
 6.  Tristan Gommendy       FC Porto           1:19.951  +2.048
 7.  Antonio Pizzonia       Corinthians        1:19.971  +2.068
 8.  Enrico Toccacelo       AS Roma            1:20.141  +2.238
 9.  Robert Doornbos        AC Milan           1:20.202  +2.299
10.  Borja Garcia           Sevilla FC         1:20.531  +2.628
11.  Bertrand Baguette      Al Ain             1:20.600  +2.697
12.  Alessandro Pier Guidi  Galatasaray        1:20.726  +2.823
13.  Ryan Dalziel           Rangers            1:20.746  +2.843
14.  Duncan Tappy           Tottenham Hotspur  1:21.264  +3.361
15.  Kasper Andersen        Olympiacos         1:21.383  +3.480
16.  Yelmer Buurman         PSV Eindhoven      1:22.253  +4.350
17.  Tuka Rocha             Flamengo           1:23.393  +5.490
18.  Craig Dolby            Anderlecht         1:25.291  +7.388