Stoneman tops final Marrakech F2 practice

Dean Stoneman

Dean Stoneman put in an accomplished performance to finish fastest in the final free practice session in Marrakech, the Briton bettering his own benchmark several times as he topped the timesheets for much of the 30 minutes of running.

Nicola De Marco looked set to clinch the top spot after setting purple sector times in the first two sectors, but ultimately had to settle for second after losing time in the final sector.

Behind the lead duo, Mihai Marinescu and Philipp Eng were third and fourth respectively. Eng finished his session in the pitlane minutes before the checkered flag, seemingly content with the knowledge he had gained of the tricky Marrakech street circuit.

Both Sergey Afanasiev and Will Bratt were less than one tenth of a second behind Eng, whilst a trio of Britons battled it out for seventh on the timesheets. Jack Clarke recovered from an early spin at turn one to take the position in the final minutes, ahead of Paul Rees and Silverstone race winner Jolyon Palmer. Ivan Samarin rounded out the top ten – just 0.074s behind Palmer.

Lithuanian racer Kazim Vasiliauskas ran in the top five during the early running but his session ended with the most notable accident of the day so far. The 19-year-old made contact with the barrier at the final chicane and his car was sent into a number of spins, which brought out the first red flag of the weekend. Plamen Kralev and Ajith Kumar were amongst those to recover from a spin during the session.

Dean Stoneman said: "I never used any of my boosts in that session, so hopefully in first qualifying where we are not using the boost that will stand me in good stead. It's very hot but you just have to get on with it, and I feel I'm very good at keeping my concentration in such conditions. In qualifying this afternoon we'll go out and do the best we can, and just see how the first race goes tomorrow."

The cars are due back on circuit at 4:30pm (local time) today for the opening qualifying session, although the timetable is currently running around 30 minutes behind schedule. Keep visiting www.formulatwo.com for further information.

FIA Formula Two Championship – Rounds 3 & 4 – Marrakech, Morocco – Free Practice Two Classification:

1. Dean Stoneman, 1:33.626s
2. Nicola De Marco, +0.275s
3. Mihai Marinescu, +0.612s
4. Philipp Eng, +0.819s
5. Sergey Afanasiev, +0.835s
6. Will Bratt, +0.885s
7. Jack Clarke, +0.950s
8. Paul Rees, +1.293s
9. Jolyon Palmer, +1.305s
10. Ivan Samarin, +1.379s