Immediately after the Hungarian GP the F3 returns to the track to face the Free Practice of Belgian GP on the historic and dangerous track of Spa Francorchamps. The tenth test of the season is marked by conditions difficult that they see excelling Browning ahead of Leon and Mansell.
1 ° - Luke Browning –2:15.570
2 ° - Noel Leon +0,030
3 ° - Christian Mansell +.0,372
Initially the track presents itself very humid and as a result it is very easy to make mistakes. In fact, a few minutes from the start a yellow flag appears caused by a long di Dunne which ends up in the gravel and then returns to the track.
Instead, the person who immediately found confidence with the track was Browning who set the first time in 2:21.310 and made us understand that he has the chance to do well this weekend and regain the championship lead. At Cotrario his contender Minì does not have the time that was canceled due to track limits.
Also worth remembering is the good 6th position for Taponen, Ferrari driver academy driver, who replaces Tsolov who cannot participate this weekend as he has already competed on this track in another category.
With 20 minutes to go until the end of the session the different teams start to put on slick tyres. The first to go out on dry tires is Fornaroli but after one lap he immediately returns to the pit because the conditions are not yet optimal.
Time is ticking and when we are 10 minutes from the end of free practice F3 the track starts to dry out and the times drop. The first to improve Browning's time was the Irish driver Dunne who scored a 2:20:474 but he is immediately overtaken by other drivers who take advantage of the evolution of the track.
2 minutes to go Zagazeta spins in turn 9 and then gets back on track.
With a few seconds to go everyone tries to improve their lap despite the yellow flag in the last sector. In the end, Belgium's best free practice time was set by Browning, just ahead of Leon while third is there mansell a little more detached.
Free practice a bit disappointing for Fornaroli and Minì 9th and 15th respectively° while Taponen made a good debut with the 12th fastest time.
F2 – F3: TV times for the Belgian GP
Friday July 26
- 11: F05 – Free Practice
- 15pm: F05 – Qualifying
- 16pm: F00 – Qualifying
Saturday July 27
- 9am: F50 Sprint Race
- 14:15: F2 – Sprint Race
Sunday July 28
- 8:30: F3 – Feature Race
- 10:00: F2 – Feature Race
Below is the ranking at the end of free practice:
