Stanaway quickest in GP3 practice

Richie Stanaway set the pace in the first GP3 Series practice session at the new Sochi circuit in Russia on Friday evening.

Stanaway lapped the Russian GP venue in 1m52.876s, ending the 45-minute session over a fifth of a second clear of Dean Stoneman, who joins the Koiranen GP squad this weekend as his usual Manor team has not made the trip to Russia.

Stanaway needs to overturn a 50-point deficit to points leader Alex Lynn over the next four races to wrest the title away. Lynn finished the session sixth fastest on 1m53.365s, almost half a second down.

Behind Stoneman, fellow Briton Emil Bernstorff was third fastest for Carlin, ahead of another Briton, Dino Zamparelli, and his ART teammate Marvin Kirchhofer.

Behind Lynn, the third ART of Alex Fontana was followed by Nick Yelloly (Status) and Jimmy Eriksson, who is third in the standings.