At the track where he claimed his maiden GP3 Series victory last year, Giuliano Alesi was fastest in practice at Silverstone.
It was a close session with the top twelve drivers split by nine tenths of a second.
Niko Kari and Dorian Boccolacci completed the top three.
At the start of the session, as has become customary, there was a planned virtual safety car test.
When the action got underway the fastest time was changing hands every lap as the drivers got to grips with the session.
As the times continued to tumble Pedro Piquet was the first driver to break the 1m50s barrier but was quickly surpassed by championship leader Callum Ilott who dipped into the 1m49s.
Alesi, then displaced Ilott at the top by shaving three tenths off the Briton.
Ilott’s ART Grand Prix team-mate Nikita Mazepin managed to find some pace to put himself in first with Ilott slotting in just behind him.
At the thirty minute mark, Piquet spun at Becketts and narrowly avoided being beached in the gravel to be able to carry on.
Having just returned to the top of the standings, Alesi spun going into Turn 1 and was lucky to avoid the barriers.
With less than twenty minutes remaining, it was a Trident 1-2-3 as Alessio Lorandi and Ryan Tveter, having both stayed in the pits, trailed their team-mate.
Joey Mawson was struggling for grip on his ice-blue hard Pirelli‘s and ran off track at Luffield.
It was then Lorandi’s turn to take the honours of being the fastest with a laptime of 1m47.600.
Deciding to stamp his authority on the session, Lorandi went even quicker out front as those behind fought over second.
Mawson was the next to head the timings but the Australian had gone off the track in the process, running very wide out of Club Corner.
Niko Kari, briefly headed the session for MP Motorsport but Mawson after a clean lap was able to find more time to return to the top.
As the session headed into its final moments it was Dorian Boccolacci’s turn as the quickest.
Kari once again went quickest but Alesi jumped to the top right at the end.
Behind the trio, Lorandi was fourth ahead of Leonardo Pulcini, David Beckmann, Piquet, Julien Falchero with Diego Menchaca rounding of the top ten.
The biggest surprise is the prescence of no ARTs in the top ten with Ilott the best placed in twelfth.
Qualifying for Saturday’s Feature Race gets underway at 17.05 local time, and if practice is anything to go by it shall be a tense battle for pole.
2018 GP3 Series Results: Silverstone – Practice
[table id=3180 /]
