Sainz sets Spa FR3.5 practice pace

Formula Renault 3.5 championship leader Carlos Sainz Jr. set the pace during free practice at Spa on Friday.

The Spaniard, who leads the standings by 15 points from rookie Oliver Rowland following last weekend's Monaco round, took control of the faster afternoon session early on, and controlled the timing screens on both long run pace and qualifying simulations.

It didn't take Sainz long to surpass Sauber Formula 1 junior Sergey Sirotkin's best from the morning session, which came as no surprise as conditions were fully dry for the afternoon after some light rain had interfered with the earlier running.

Sirotkin remained a factor as the pace increased though, and he was best of the rest behind Sainz – who set two laps good enough for P1 – in the second session as well.

The afternoon running came alive in the final few minutes as teams switched their attention to preparing for Saturday morning's race one qualifying session, but even during a series of improvements from the majority of the field, Sainz was only knocked off of top spot for a few seconds.

Series returnee Richie Stanaway, who was injured in the 2012 FR3.5 event at Spa, was the driver to briefly move to the front while Sainz got up to speed in the closing stages. By the end of the session the Lotus driver was down to seventh, having abandoned what appeared to be a faster final lap as the checkered flag came out.

Monaco podium finisher Marco Sorensen was one of those to push Stanaway back as he took third, with Pietro Fantin, Pierre Gasly and Rowland all moving towards the top in the closing moments.

Will Stevens – whose Strakka team has been working to solve issues with getting new tires up to temperature for qualifying runs – was eighth fastest, at a circuit the Briton believes will suit his car more than the streets of Monte Carlo did last weekend.