Dunne leads F2 practice at the Red Bull Ring

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Formula 2 points leader Alex Dunne was quickest in free practice at the Red Bull Ring on Friday.

The track was busy straight away, with 14 drivers having already got three laps in after seven minutes.

DAMS’ Jak Crawford led the way, but soon he was down in third as Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett and Hitech GP’s Luke Browning went faster, and then Browning improved again nine minutes in to 1m17.558s.

Crawford got within 0.219 seconds of the new benchmark, with Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti leading a group of five drivers in the 1m18s. Prema and MP Motorsport’s line-ups were still yet to set any flying laps.

Rodin Motorsport’s Amaury Cordeel was next to the top, posting a 1m17.415s as ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins went third fastest. Cordeel’s advantage at the top was a mere 0.083s after 11 minutes following a big improvement from Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli, and Dino Beganovic beat team-mate Browning by 0.032s.

A minute later Crawford returned to the top with a 1m16.925s, and Cordeel was down in fourth behind AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen and Campos’s Arvid Lindblad. Rodin’s Dunne and MP’s Oliver Goethe were still yet to lap at a representative pace, and Prema’s drivers had only done sighter laps.

Martins bettered Crawford’s time by 0.161s on his next lap, and Dunne’s first flyer put him straight into fourth. Crawford responded to Martins, reclaiming first place by 0.036s, and MP’s Richard Verschoor became the third driver to break into the 1m16s.

As Crawford and Marti headed to the pits 16 minutes in, other drivers were improving and Cordeel set a 1m16.731s to come just 0.003s shy of the pacesetter. Dunne and Browning both set personal bests, but were now sixth and seventh.

A few minutes later Lindblad lowered the pace to 1m16.601s, leading Verschoor by 0.091s, and Prema’s drivers moved into the top 10 with their first flying laps.

Gabriele Mini put Prema on top approaching the session’s halfway point, setting a 1m16.391s. At the same time, Fornaroli went sub-1m17s in seventh place.

The track became quiet after that as most concluded their first runs, and when Dunne headed back out he immediately improved. First he went from 11th to seventh, as Crawford rose from fourth to second, then on his next lap posted a 1m16.252s that earned him top spot.

A 1m16.474s put Lindblad in third, shuffling Crawford back to fourth, and Fornaroli improved again in seventh.

Martins came just shy of Lindblad a minute later, setting a 1m16.487s with six minutes to go, and in the final five minutes there was another new benchmark from Dunne as he crossed the line in 1m16.121s.

Fornaroli was also continuing to find pace but it only brought him up to sixth, as DAMS’ Kush Maini jumped to seventh with a 1m16.682s.

Many drivers then pitted, and of those who stayed out on track to the end only Browning and Prema’s Sebastian Montoya improved in 11th and 15th. Both were within 0.85s of the pace.

Free practice results