Christopher Zanella – Photo Credit: Formula Two
Christopher Zanella recorded the fastest time in first practice for the FIA Formula Two Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of fellow Swiss racer Alex Fontana and series debutant Vittorio Ghirelli.
Zanella, who won a race at the Nurburgring last time out, posted a 2m05.366s after sitting out the early part of the session.
That put him 0.182s ahead of Fontana, while Ghirelli was three tenths off the pace in third. The 18-year-old Italian has raced in GP3 and now Formula Renault 3.5 in the past three seasons, without scoring any points.
Germany's Markus Pommer took fourth place ahead of championship leader Luciano Bacheta. Kevin Mirocha was sixth ahead of teenager Matheo Tuscher.
Formula Renault BARC champion Dino Zamparelli was eighth ahead of his Spa debut, with fellow Englishman Daniel McKenzie in ninth, with the top nine covered by less than a second.
Indian Parthiva Sureshwaren was tenth, 1.3s off the pace. Mihai Marinescu was an uncharacteristic 11th quickest, ahead of Plamen Kralev, Max Snegirev and David Zhu.
Mauro Calamia was 15th, ahead of Hector Hurst, Axcil Jefferies and Kourosh Khani – the Iranian making his return after missing the Nurburgring round due to visa issues.
1. Christopher Zanella, 2:05.366s
2. Alex Fontana, +0.182s
3. Vittorio Ghirelli, +0.307s
4. Markus Pommer, +0.498s
5. Luciano Bacheta, +0.547s
6. Kevin Mirocha, +0.582s
7. Mathéo Tuscher, +0.763s
8. Dino Zamparelli, +0.794s
9. Daniel McKenzie, +0.953s
10. Parthiva Sureshwaren, +1.350
11. Mihai Marinescu, +1.527s
12. Plamen Kralev, +1.870s
13. Max Snegirev, +2.009s
14. David Zhu, +2.012s
15. Mauro Calamia, +2.216s
16. Hector Hurst, +2.485s
17. Axcil Jefferies, +2.485s
18. Kourosh Khani, +2.873s
