Afanasiev edges Vasiliauskas in second free practice
Russian pips Kazim by 0.014s on final tour, with Tom Gladdis third
Russia's Sergey Afanasiev ended fastest in the second free
practice session in Brno, edging out Kazim Vasiliauskas by just 14
thousandths of a second on his very last tour of the circuit.
The pair ended more than three tenths clear of Tom Gladdis in
third, the Briton having held the top spot himself until the final
minutes of the session when Vasiliauskas and then Afanasiev made
their charge.
In what was an incredibly close session, fourth through to
seventh were covered by less than one tenth of a second, while the
top eight were separated by just over six tenths.
With the track now almost fully dry, lap times were almost 20
seconds faster than this morning's wet opener. Dean Stoneman made
the most of the early damp conditions to top the timesheets for the
opening ten minutes before Philipp Eng responded, becoming the
first driver to dip into the 1m47s bracket.
A mid-session break allowed the field to fine tune their set-ups
and saw an instant drop in lap times as drivers returned to the
track, with first Bailly and then Gladdis jumping Eng. Kazim looked
to have sealed top spot after setting personal bests in all three
sectors on his tenth lap of the circuit, only to be edged out by a
superb last-gasp effort from Afanasiev.
Gladdis remained in third, but there was still time for Benjamin
Bailly to jump Philipp Eng and clinch fourth by just two
thousandths of a second. Nicola De Marco, a polesitter here in
2009, and Dean Stoneman both finished within four hundredths of a
second of Eng's time, claiming sixth and seventh respectively.
Ivan Samarin rounded out one of the closest top eights this
season, the Russian finishing less than seven tenths off
Afanasiev's ultimate best after impressing particularly in the
second sector.
Mihai Marinescu meanwhile pipped Natalia Kowalska by just over
six hundredths of a second to clinch ninth, with the Polish racer
rounding out the top ten.
Kelvin Snoeks meanwhile was 11th, as the Dutchman makes his
return to F2 having missed Brands Hatch with a broken ankle,
while championship leader Jolyon Palmer - who was fastest in
opening free practice - could only manage 12th.
Interestingly, the championship's top three runners - Palmer,
Stoneman and Eng - were the only drivers to spin in the early
stages, until Plamen Kralev beached his car at the exit of turn
five - the session being halted as a result two minutes before the
end.
FIA Formula Two Championship - Brno, Czech Republic -
Free Practice Two - Overall Classification:
1. Sergey Afanasiev, 1:47.362
2. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +0.014s
3. Tom Gladdis, +0.390s
4. Benjamin Bailly, +0.508s
5. Philipp Eng, +0.510s
6. Nicola De Marco, +0.528s
7. Dean Stoneman, +0.559s
8. Ivan Samarin, +0.695s
9. Mihai Marinescu, +1.029s
10. Natalia Kowalska, +1.090s