Photo: Renault Sport/DPPI
Fortec driver Ed Jones and championship leader Oliver Rowland led the way in the morning and afternoon practice sessions at Paul Ricard on Friday.
Jones, who has two Eurocup podium finishes this season, posted the fastest time in the first session with a time of 2m06.003s, 0.045 seconds ahead of Prema driver Luca Ghiotto.
The top ten were covered by less than half a second with Mikko Pakari and Hungaroring race winner Nyck de Vries in third and fourth. Ignazio D?Agosto was fifth quickest followed by Oscar Tunjo who sits fourth in the championship.
Title contender Pierre Gasly was seventh fastest with Guilherme Silva, Jake Dennis and Steijn Schothorst completing the top ten.
In the afternoon, Rowland took charge with a faster time of 2m05.103s in an even more competitive session where the top ten drivers were all within 0.325 seconds.
Jones continued to be competitive behind Rowland, with Tunjo, Dennis and D?Agosto again appearing in the top ten joined by Egor Orudzhev.
Ghiotto kept up the pace in seventh followed by Gasly who?ll look to bridge the small gap in qualifying. Bruno Bonifacio and De Vries rounded off the top ten as it looks to be a close battle for pole.
Practice 1 times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Ed Jones | Fortec Motorsports | 2:06.003 | 16 | |
| 2 | Luca Ghiotto | Prema Powerteam | 2:06.048 | +0.045 | 16 |
| 3 | Mikko Pakari | Fortec Motorsports | 2:06.068 | +0.065 | 16 |
| 4 | Nyck De Vries | Koiranen GP | 2:06.091 | +0.088 | 17 |
| 5 | Ignazio D’Agosto | KTR | 2:06.182 | +0.179 | 16 |
| 6 | Oscar Tunjo | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:06.272 | +0.269 | 16 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Tech 1 Racing | 2:06.351 | +0.348 | 16 |
| 8 | Guilherme Silva | Koiranen GP | 2:06.380 | +0.377 | 17 |
| 9 | Jake Dennis | Fortec Motorsports | 2:06.412 | +0.409 | 18 |
| 10 | Steijn Schothorst | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:06.434 | +0.431 | 16 |
| 11 | Levin Amweg | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:06.485 | +0.482 | 15 |
| 12 | Oliver Rowland | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:06.486 | +0.483 | 12 |
| 13 | Gustav Malja | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:06.497 | +0.494 | 16 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | ART Junior Team | 2:06.505 | +0.502 | 16 |
| 15 | Aurelien Panis | Prema Powerteam | 2:06.539 | +0.536 | 15 |
| 16 | William Vermont | ARTA Engineering | 2:06.606 | +0.603 | 16 |
| 17 | Bruno Bonifacio | Prema Powerteam | 2:06.675 | +0.672 | 16 |
| 18 | Egor Orudzhev | Tech 1 Racing | 2:06.917 | +0.914 | 17 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | KTR | 2:06.927 | +0.924 | 16 |
| 20 | Benjamin Bailly | RC Formula | 2:07.145 | +1.142 | 16 |
| 21 | Joffrey De Narda | ARTA Engineering | 2:07.164 | +1.161 | 15 |
| 22 | Roman Mavlanov | RC Formula | 2:07.261 | +1.258 | 14 |
| 23 | Simon Tirman | ARTA Engineering | 2:07.316 | +1.313 | 15 |
| 24 | Andrea Pizzitola | ART Junior Team | 2:07.339 | +1.336 | 17 |
| 25 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Tech 1 Racing | 2:07.401 | +1.398 | 16 |
| 26 | Victor Franzoni | Koiranen GP | 2:07.629 | +1.626 | 15 |
| 27 | Ryan Tveter | Fortec Motorsports | 2:07.754 | +1.751 | 17 |
| 28 | Gregor Ramsay | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:07.850 | +1.847 | 15 |
| 29 | Kevin Joerg | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:08.171 | +2.168 | 12 |
| 30 | Leo Roussel | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:08.310 | +2.307 | 15 |
| 31 | Marcos Siebert | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:08.366 | +2.363 | 17 |
| 32 | Yu Kanamaru | KTR | 2:08.637 | +2.634 | 15 |
| 33 | Mattia Vita | RC Formula | 2:08.704 | +2.701 | 16 |
| 34 | Alejandro Abogado | Interwetten.com Racing | 2:09.942 | +3.939 | 15 |
| 35 | Bernd Herndlhofer | Interwetten.com Racing | 2:10.030 | +4.027 | 15 |
Practice 2 times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Oliver Rowland | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:05.103 | 15 | |
| 2 | Ed Jones | Fortec Motorsports | 2:05.108 | +0.005 | 14 |
| 3 | Oscar Tunjo | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:05.112 | +0.009 | 15 |
| 4 | Jake Dennis | Fortec Motorsports | 2:05.192 | +0.089 | 15 |
| 5 | Ignazio D’Agosto | KTR | 2:05.264 | +0.161 | 14 |
| 6 | Egor Orudzhev | Tech 1 Racing | 2:05.290 | +0.187 | 17 |
| 7 | Luca Ghiotto | Prema Powerteam | 2:05.334 | +0.231 | 16 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Tech 1 Racing | 2:05.377 | +0.274 | 15 |
| 9 | Bruno Bonifacio | Prema Powerteam | 2:05.415 | +0.312 | 16 |
| 10 | Nyck De Vries | Koiranen GP | 2:05.428 | +0.325 | 15 |
| 11 | Aurelien Panis | Prema Powerteam | 2:05.467 | +0.364 | 16 |
| 12 | Gustav Malja | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:05.495 | +0.392 | 14 |
| 13 | Guilherme Silva | Koiranen GP | 2:05.499 | +0.396 | 15 |
| 14 | Victor Franzoni | Koiranen GP | 2:05.569 | +0.466 | 14 |
| 15 | Benjamin Bailly | RC Formula | 2:05.632 | +0.529 | 15 |
| 16 | Andrea Pizzitola | ART Junior Team | 2:05.700 | +0.597 | 16 |
| 17 | William Vermont | ARTA Engineering | 2:05.705 | +0.602 | 17 |
| 18 | Steijn Schothorst | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2:05.834 | +0.731 | 15 |
| 19 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Tech 1 Racing | 2:05.854 | +0.751 | 15 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | KTR | 2:05.883 | +0.780 | 15 |
| 21 | Marcos Siebert | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.906 | +0.803 | 16 |
| 22 | Mikko Pakari | Fortec Motorsports | 2:05.985 | +0.882 | 12 |
| 23 | Kevin Joerg | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:06.009 | +0.906 | 16 |
| 24 | Ryan Tveter | Fortec Motorsports | 2:06.035 | +0.932 | 15 |
| 25 | Roman Mavlanov | RC Formula | 2:06.072 | +0.969 | 16 |
| 26 | Matt Parry | Fortec Motorsports | 2:06.104 | +1.001 | 16 |
| 27 | Levin Amweg | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:06.286 | +1.183 | 15 |
| 28 | Simon Tirman | ARTA Engineering | 2:06.297 | +1.194 | 15 |
| 29 | Joffrey De Narda | ARTA Engineering | 2:06.413 | +1.310 | 16 |
| 30 | Yu Kanamaru | KTR | 2:06.520 | +1.417 | 13 |
| 31 | Leo Roussel | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:06.554 | +1.451 | 17 |
| 32 | Gregor Ramsay | Manor MP Motorsport | 2:06.716 | +1.613 | 13 |
| 33 | Mattia Vita | RC Formula | 2:07.196 | +2.093 | 14 |
| 34 | Esteban Ocon | ART Junior Team | 2:07.385 | +2.282 | 3 |
| 35 | Nicolas Jamin | ART Junior Team | 2:07.492 | +2.389 | 16 |
| 36 | Alejandro Abogado | Interwetten.com Racing | 2:08.018 | +2.915 | 14 |
| 37 | Bernd Herndlhofer | Interwetten.com Racing | 2:09.120 | +4.017 | 13 |