Conor Daly fastest in Free Practice in Belgium

Daly sets the early pace in Spa-Francorchamps—
 
ART Grand Prix’s Conor Daly fastest in Free Practice in Belgium—
 
Following the four week break, GP3 Series returned to action at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium for Round 6 of the 2013 season. The 45 minute session got underway in warm temperatures with glorious blue skies at a circuit notorious for its changeable weather conditions. There is one change to the driver line-up for this weekend with Alexander Sims stepping in at Carlin to replace Eric Lichtenstein this weekend.
 
The ART Grand Prix duo of Jack Harvey and Facu Regalia led the que of 27 drivers onto the track as the field completed their first laps on scrubbed Pirelli tyres. Marussia Manor Racing’s Tio Ellinas was first to clock a time in the 2m08s until Koiranen GP’s Kevin Korjus bettered his time by a mere 0.032s.
 
Finnish teammate Aaro Vainio broke into the 2m07s barrier and held P1 for a large chunk of the session. As the drivers returned to the pitlane for a new set of rubber, it was Dino Zamparelli who lit up the timing screens in purple and shot to P1, over one second faster than Vainio.
 
The times tumbled in the final ten minutes with Patric Niederhauser (Jenzer Motorsport) claiming top spot until Series leader Ellinas became the first driver to lap in the 2m05s to reclaim back P1. MW Arden’s Carlos Sainz flew to the top of the timesheets in the dying moments but the session was to belong to American ace Conor Daly who went a tenth faster with seconds remaining.
 
At the chequered flag the top ten finished as Daly, Sainz, Nick Yelloly (Carlin), Daniil Kvyat (MW Arden), Ellinas, Lewis Williamson (Bamboo Engineering), Sims, Regalia, Melville McKee (Bamboo Engineering) and David Fumanelli (Trident).
 
Qualifying takes place at 09.45 CET tomorrow morning, who will get the vital four points for pocketing pole and what will the weather bring, wait and see!
 
 
Free Practice
 
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Conor Daly
ART Grand Prix
2:05.341
13
2.
Carlos Sainz
MW Arden
2:05.461
13
3.
Nick Yelloly
Carlin
2:05.584
16
4.
Daniil Kvyat
MW Arden
2:05.618
14
5.
Tio Ellinas
Marussia Manor Racing
2:05.694
15
6.
Lewis Williamson
Bamboo Engineering
2:05.764
13
7.
Alexander Sims
Carlin
2:05.987
15
8.
Facu Regalia
ART Grand Prix
2:06.044
15
9.
Melville McKee
Bamboo Engineering
2:06.060
13
10.
David Fumanelli
Trident
2:06.158
15
11.
Alex Fontana
Jenzer Motorsport
2:06.167
17
12.
Patric Niederhauser
Jenzer Motorsport
2:06.206
15
13.
Dino Zamparelli
Marussia Manor Racing
2:06.490
13
14.
Adderly Fong
Status Grand Prix
2:06.593
17
15.
Jimmy Eriksson
Status Grand Prix
2:06.841
16
16.
Robert Visoiu
MW Arden
2:06.963
13
17.
Giovanni Venturini
Trident
2:06.982
15
18.
Josh Webster
Status Grand Prix
2:07.504
16
19.
Aaro Vainio
Koiranen GP
2:07.639
10
20.
Luis Sa Silva
Carlin
2:07.848
15
21.
Kevin Korjus
Koiranen GP
2:07.889
12
22.
Samin Gomez
Jenzer Motorsport
2:08.540
17
23.
Patrick Kujala
Koiranen GP
2:09.261
11
24.
Emanuele Zonzini
Trident
2:09.262
15
25.
Jack Harvey
ART Grand Prix
2:09.512
9
26.
Carmen Jorda
Bamboo Engineering
2:09.852
16
27.
Ryan Cullen
Marussia Manor Racing
2:11.925
14