Team France on top in first practice
Series one champions Team France kicked off the new A1GP season in perfect fashion by topping the times in the opening practice session
Heavy overnight rain meant it was a sodden Zandvoort track the 22-drivers took to first thing, and constant drizzle prevented a fully dry line from emerging.
Jeroen Bleekemolen was the early pacesetter, the Dutchman giving his hardy home support something to cheer in the cold and damp.
Wet weather specialist Salvador Duran then moved to the head of the times midway through the extended 70-minute session, and the Mexican held on at the top despite a stern challenge from reigning champs Team Germany and Christian Vietoris.
But in the dying seconds Loic Duval strung together a great lap of 1:46.619 to deny Duran the top spot by less than a tenth of a second.
Unsurprisingly, given the conditions, there were a number of spinners. Team Portugal's Joao Urbano came off worst when he hit the barriers at Turn 3.
Indonesian Satrio Hermanto also hit the guardrail, giving his team a race against time to get the car ready for the morning's second practice session, which starts two hours later.
Ralph Firman was fifth quickest for Ireland, just behind South African Adrian Zaugg, while Oliver Jarvis rounded out the top 10 for Team Great Britain.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Loic Duval France 1:46.618 24 2. Salvador Duran Mexico 1:46.671 + 0.053 25 3. C.Vietoris Germany 1:47.232 + 0.614 24 4. Adrian Zaugg South Africa 1:47.306 + 0.688 20 5. Ralph Firman Ireland 1:47.560 + 0.942 21 6. J.Bleekemolen Netherlands 1:47.717 + 1.099 21 7. Neel Jani Switzerland 1:47.953 + 1.335 27 8. Enrico Toccacelo Italy 1:48.019 + 1.401 25 9. Erik Janis Czech Republic 1:48.441 + 1.823 23 10. Oliver Jarvis Great Britain 1:48.584 + 1.966 25 11. Cheng Cong Fu China 1:48.867 + 2.249 22 12. N.Karthikeyan India 1:49.234 + 2.616 27 13. J.Hinchcliffe Canada 1:49.697 + 3.079 21 14. Ian Dyk Australia 1:49.734 + 3.116 31 15. Chris Alajajian Lebanon 1:49.794 + 3.176 22 16. Sergio Jimenez Brazil 1:50.251 + 3.633 28 17. Jonny Reid New Zealand 1:50.489 + 3.871 27 18. Joao Urbano Portugal 1:51.181 + 4.563 8 19. Adam Khan Pakistan 1:51.189 + 4.571 30 20. Alex Yoong Malaysia 1:53.773 + 7.155 21 21. Buddy Rice USA 1:54.884 + 8.266 25 22. Satrio Hermanto Indonesia 1:55.851 + 9.233 19
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