Jousse and Aleshin tied at the top
Both drivers set exactly the same lap time in free practice
Julien Jousse and Mikhail Aleshin both set the pace during free
practice one at Oschersleben this morning (Friday), having
incredibly recorded the exact same lap times.
The closeness of this year's FIA Formula Two
Championship was further highlighted as Jousse and then
Aleshin waited until their final lap of the session to both
set a time of 1:21.514s. Jousse is officially recorded in first
position, having set his time a few seconds before his Russian
rival.
Up until the dramatic final minute it had looked
as if Robert Wickens would take the top spot, but the Canadian
driver had to settle for third at the finish. Championship
leader Andy Soucek was in the top six throughout the session but
improved late on to take fourth.
Jason Moore produced a standout performance as the young
Englishman set the ultimate pace in the early stages and
remained a threat for the duration of the 30-minute session.
He eventually ended up fifth, having relegated home driver Tobias
Hegewald down to sixth.
Nicola De Marco was seventh, ahead of Miloš
Pavlović who also endured two spins during a mixed
session. Pavlović was not the only spinner as Jolyon Palmer,
Edoardo Piscopo, Pietro Gandolfi and Germán
Sánchez all recovered from their own
off-track moment, whilst Natacha Gachnang did
well to hang on after running wide through turn 13.
Kazim Vasiliauskas continued to show his consistent top ten form
as he took ninth from Carlos Iaconelli. Local driver Jens
Höing was an impressive 13th, whilst debutant Ollie Hancock
set the 23rd fastest time.
"It is nice to start the weekend where I left off at
Donington Park," said Jousse. "Of course it is very early in the
weekend so we will see what happens later today. The times are so
close and it just shows how tough this championship is - the rest
of the season is going to be very challenging."
"It is encouraging," said Aleshin. "You cannot take too much
from this however, but qualifying is going to be so important here.
The track is tight and it is difficult to overtake so I hope to
improve by one position during qualifying!"
Free Practice one - Oschersleben - Provisional
Classification:
1. Julien Jousse, 1:21.514s
2. Mikhail Aleshin, +0.000s
3. Robert Wickens, +0.112s
4. Andy Soucek, +0.326s
5. Jason Moore, +0.494s
6. Tobias Hegewald, +0.693s
7. Nicola De Marco, +0.737s
8. Miloš Pavlović, +0.804s
9. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +.876s
10. Carlos Iaconelli, +1.009s
Click here to download the full classification