Practice-
Isack Hadjar started the Spa-Francorchamps weekend on the front foot for Campos Racing, narrowly heading up ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins with a 1:58.730, just 0.010s quicker than his compatriot.
PREMA Racing driver, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was able to improve to third late on in the practice session to complete the top three.
There was no rush to get time on the board but once the first laps of the session were completed, Juan Manuel Correa led the way for DAMS Lucas Oil on a 2:02.634.
A red flag arrived with just over 23 minutes to go as Rafael Villagomez hit the barrier out of Turn 9. He was ok but the Van Amersfoort Racing needed clearing up before the session was resumed.
Practice got back underway with 14 minutes left, and this time there was a rush to get some running in compared to earlier in the session.
Martins took over at the top for ART Grand Prix as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes, setting a 2:00.773.
The track continued to improve lap after lap and Dennis Hauger became the first driver below the two-minute mark with a 1:59.682 on his next effort.
Martins restored himself at the top until Hadjar secured P1 for Campos Racing with a 1:58.761 to lead by 0.026s.
The French duo could hardly be separated once again on their final laps, but it was Hadjar who recorded the fastest time of the session.
Qualifying-
It was Paul Aron that claimed an important pole position for Hitech Pulse-Eight around Spa-Francorchamps, his 1:56.959 putting him on top ahead of his title rivals.
Gabriel Bortoleto was closest to the Estonian, 0.168s back in P2 while Championship leader Isack Hadjar wound up third on the grid, 0.2s down on his nearest rival.
Before anyone could record a timed lap, there was a Red Flag as the ART Grand Prix car belonging to Victor Martins slowed to a half at the start of sector three.
The session resumed with 24 minutes on the clock, and when the first time filtered through, Hadjar set the pace with a 1:57.803 just 0.102s ahead of title rival Aron in P2.
Kush Maini and Franco Colapinto were one of the few that opted to put a second lap in on their first set of Soft tyres and the pair improved to fifth and sixth respectively.
Drivers then returned to the track with 10 minutes left of the session on a fresh set of tyres for their next attempts and there were improvements everywhere.
Aron improved his time to take provisional pole with three minutes to go on a 1:56.959. Hadjar couldn’t beat that and went second until Bortoleto went quicker still.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Aron, P2: Bortoleto, P3: Hadjar, P4: Crawford, P5: Antonelli, P6: Maloney, P7: Colapinto, P8: Verschoor, P9: Hauger and P10: O’Sullivan who will be starting on reverse grid pole for Sprint Race.
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