Emanuele Olivieri continued his strong form from Thursday afternoon’s second collective test session by leading the way in this morning’s Free Practice, becoming the only driver to break the 2m13s barrier.
The R-ace GP driver moved to the top of the timesheets in the early stages before slipping down the order. However, with just seconds remaining before the chequered flag, he produced a best lap of 2:12.906 that remained unbeaten.
Zhenrui Chi climbed to second in the closing stages, ending the session 0.287s adrift for MP Motorsport, ahead of team-mate Alexander Abkhazava.
Joules Roussel (CL Motorsport) finished fourth, with Championship leader Sebastian Wheldon completing the top five in the third MP Motorsport entry.
With the top 10 drivers covered by just seven tenths of a second, Dion Gowda (Van Amersfoort Racing) finished sixth. CL Motorsport’s Thomas Strauven took seventh on home soil, making his second appearance in the series. ART Grand Prix drivers Alexandre Munoz and Mattéo Giaccardi secured eighth and 10th respectively, while Saqer Almaosherji (G4 Racing) completed the top 10 in ninth.
Attention now turns to Qualifying 1, scheduled for 14:15 CEST and split into Group A and Group B. The session will determine the starting grid for tomorrow’s Race 1, with the top 12 drivers from the combined classification reversed to form the grid for Race 2.
