GP2 Spa: Sergey Sirotkin heads Pierre Gasly in free practice
Sergey Sirotkin outpaced GP2 title rival Pierre Gasly to lead the way in the practice session for the Spa round
In sweltering conditions, all the quick times came on the qualifying-simulation runs that opened the session.
Red Bull protege Gasly was on top for a few minutes with a 1m59.050s for Prema, but ART's Renault Formula 1 test driver Sirotkin deposed him with a lap 0.222 seconds faster on his own flier.
The two men are now tied atop the GP2 championship standings following their respective surges in the races prior to the summer break.
Racing Engineering duo Norman Nato and Jordan King completed the top four, Nato providing one of the more spectacular moments of an uneventful session when he caught a slide through Blanchimont that looked certain to become a high-speed spin.
Russian Time's Artem Markelov and 2014 Spa winner Raffaele Marciello sandwiched Gasly's Prema team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi in fifth and seventh.
Alex Lynn and Mitch Evans returned from their Jaguar Formula E tests to start their GP2 weekends in low-key 12th and 17th places.
PRACTICE RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sergey Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | 1m58.828s | - | 12 |
2 | Pierre Gasly | Prema Racing | 1m59.050s | 0.222s | 16 |
3 | Norman Nato | Racing Engineering | 1m59.194s | 0.366s | 16 |
4 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1m59.228s | 0.400s | 15 |
5 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m59.263s | 0.435s | 13 |
6 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Prema Racing | 1m59.358s | 0.530s | 16 |
7 | Raffaele Marciello | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m59.458s | 0.630s | 14 |
8 | Marvin Kirchhofer | Carlin | 1m59.478s | 0.650s | 16 |
9 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1m59.559s | 0.731s | 15 |
10 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m59.607s | 0.779s | 17 |
11 | Oliver Rowland | MP Motorsport | 1m59.634s | 0.806s | 14 |
12 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1m59.782s | 0.954s | 15 |
13 | Gustav Malja | Rapax | 1m59.787s | 0.959s | 18 |
14 | Arthur Pic | Rapax | 1m59.883s | 1.055s | 16 |
15 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 2m00.047s | 1.219s | 13 |
16 | Sergio Canamasas | Carlin | 2m00.084s | 1.256s | 14 |
17 | Mitch Evans | Pertamina Campos Racing | 2m00.119s | 1.291s | 12 |
18 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 2m00.369s | 1.541s | 16 |
19 | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Campos Racing | 2m00.703s | 1.875s | 15 |
20 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 2m01.590s | 2.762s | 16 |
21 | Nabil Jeffri | Arden International | 2m01.743s | 2.915s | 8 |
22 | Jimmy Eriksson | Arden International | 2m02.573s | 3.745s | 15 |
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