Bortolotti leads the way once more

Title leader shows dominance in second Red Bull Ring practice session

1. Mirko Bortolotti in action at the Red Bull Ring

Mirko Bortolotti continued to dominate the first day (Friday) of the FIA Formula Two Championship’s inaugural visit to the Red Bull Ring by topping the timesheets in the second free practice session.

After setting the fastest time in this morning’s 45-minute stint, the 21-year-old Austro-Italian headed the timesheets once again, this time posting a best time of 1:22.904s – a full half a second quicker than his nearest rival.

That transpired to be Mihai Marinescu who again looked quick to go second fastest while Benjamin Lariche produced a season best performance with third. Ramon Pineiro, who picked up his maiden win last time out at Brands Hatch, went fourth fastest with German Tobias Hegewald completing the top five.

With the sun still beating down and temperatures touching 35 degrees, Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks was the first driver to be on the pace lapping in the 1min 24s with Bortolotti and Christopher Zanella not far behind him.

Bortolotti then re-established his place at the top to lead the 22 car field before Korean driver Sunghak Mun produced a stunning time to briefly run quickest before eventually finishing the session a career best sixth.

Alongside Mun, Lariche was also on the pace, temporarily topping the timesheets before being edged out to third place.

Brit Alex Brundle, who recently celebrated his 21st birthday, ended the session seventh just ahead of Swiss driver Christopher Zanella. Snoeks, fresh from performing at the Bavaria City Racing Event, was ninth fastest with Spaniard Miki Monras improving on his morning pace to round out the top 10.

However, the session did see several drivers have their lap times deleted for exceeding the track limits.

Tomorrow’s first qualifying session takes place at 09:45 with full coverage on the official F2 website.

Results: Red Bull Ring – Free practice two:

1. Mirko Bortolotti, 1:22.904s
2. Mihai Marinescu, +0.534s
3. Benjamin Lariche, +0.750s
4. Ramon Pineiro, +0.879s
5. Tobias Hegewald, +0.891s
6. Sunghak Mun, +0.914s
7. Alex Brundle, +1.004s
8. Christopher Zanella, +1.161s
9. Kelvin Snoeks, +1.222s
10. Miki Monras, +1.232s

For more information on the series click onto www.formulatwo.com

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