Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen set the pace at a wet Silverstone in Formula 2 practice.
MP Motorsport’s Franco Colaonto was first to venture out in the 45-minute session, followed by Hitech GP’s points leader Paul Aron who set a 1m59.526s to go fastest while Colapinto returned to the pits.
Taylor Barnard and team-mate Duerksen were third and fourth, but then got shuffled down the order as Trident’s Richard Verschoor and Roman Stanek headed out and immediately went second and third fastest.
Only eight drivers had set laps after 12 minutes, with Stanek in second having improved to 1m59.921s. The AIX pair also improved, and the track began to get busy at the 15-minute mark.
ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan cut Aron’s advantage to 0.358 seconds, and team-mate Victor Martins was briefly fourth fastest before DAMS’ Jak Crawford matched O’Sullivan’s pace.
By the second half of the session all but Campos Racing and Prema’s drivers had been out, with the latter’s line-up finally leaving the pits with 18 minutes to go. Their first flying laps put them one-two, with Ollie Bearman setting a 1m59.474s and Andrea Kimi Antonelli going 0.019s slower.
Campos’s Pepe Marti then left the pits and his first lap came in with 13 minutes left on the clock. It put him in 15th place, then on his next effort he comfortably went fastest with a 1m58.693s.
The track was starting to dry slightly, and Duerksen usurped Marti by setting a 1m58.064s with nine-and-a-half minutes to go. That went unbeaten, with Barnard the only other driver able to get within a second of Duerksen in the remaining time.
There was drama at the end for Williams juniors O’Sullivan and Colapinto, who both went off. O’Sullivan went through the gravel but was able to rejoin, while Colapinto spun out but as the chequered flag had already waved it did not disrupt the session.
Marti’s team-mate Isack Hadjar left it until the very end to leave the pits, and the sole lap he set was 45s off the pace.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX Racing | 1m58.064s | 17 | |
| 2 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m58.693s | +0.629s | 9 |
| 3 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | 1m58.920s | +0.856s | 11 |
| 4 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | 1m59.474s | +1.410s | 8 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | 1m59.493s | +1.429s | 8 |
| 6 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | 1m59.526s | +1.462s | 6 |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART Grand Prix | 1m59.884s | +1.820s | 10 |
| 8 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 1m59.884s | +1.820s | 7 |
| 9 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 1m59.921s | +1.857s | 12 |
| 10 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Motorsport | 2m00.002s | +1.938s | 9 |
| 11 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 2m00.424s | +2.360s | 7 |
| 12 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | 2m00.824s | +2.760s | 7 |
| 13 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 2m00.867s | +2.778s | 9 |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Virtuosi Racing | 2m00.921s | +2.803s | 7 |
| 15 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | 2m01.447s | +2.857s | 9 |
| 16 | Kush Maini | Virtuosi Racing | 2m01.461s | +3.383 | 6 |
| 17 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin Motorsport | 2m01.698s | +3.397s | 10 |
| 18 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 2m01.736s | +3.634s | 10 |
| 19 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m02.326s | +3.672s | 7 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 2m03.145s | +4.262s | 7 |
| 21 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m03.145s | +5.081s | 6 |
| 22 | Isack Hadjar | Campos Racing | 2m43.852s | +45.739s | 3 |