FR3.5: Ellinas sets Silverstone Friday pace

Strakka Racing's Tio Ellinas recovered from a fuel pump problem in the opening session to lead the Formula Renault 3.5 practice day at Silverstone. The Cypriot set a quickest lap of 1m41.494s three minutes before the checkered flag in practice two, edging out DAMS' Red Bull junior Dean Stoneman by 0.158 seconds.

Ellinas' difficulties in first practice, when his car ground to a halt at The Loop, led to the morning session being red-flagged for the second time.

"It's good to be back in a car after the championship's long [two-month] summer break," said Ellinas, who is striving for his maiden FR3.5 win. "It has been a bit tough and intense for my family recently as my grandfather has just died, so I hope I can achieve a good result this weekend to dedicate something to him."

Draco driver Pietro Fantin had set the fastest time on Friday morning. The Brazilian recorded a quickest lap of 1m43.055s, some 0.488s clear of championship challenger Matthieu Vaxiviere, who backed up his morning effort with third in second practice and is aiming to reduce a 26-point deficit to leader Oliver Rowland over the weekend.

DAMS pairing Nyck de Vries and Dean Stoneman finished third and fifth in session one, sandwiching Ellinas.

Fortec driver Rowland sat out 10 minutes of the opening session as a penalty for the track time gained contesting Silverstone's GP2 meeting in July. The Briton finished sixth and fourth fastest respectively, in the two Friday sessions.

Rowland has a busy weekend lined up, as he will also demonstrate a Red Bull Renault Formula 1 car as a prize for being the mid-season points leader.

AVF's Dutch racer Beitske Visser was also docked 10 minutes of track time in first practice, owing to a Formula 3 test at Silverstone over the winter.

The first red flag in the morning was caused by Monaco winner Jazeman Jaafar, who stopped because of a problem with the emergency switch of his Fortec car. The Malaysian completed just five laps.

Former Hilmer GP2 driver Nick Yelloly did not complete any laps in first practice on his first FR3.5 outing of the year with the Charouz-run Lots team, but finished a solid 13th in the afternoon.

Making his return to racing after a two-year hiatus, and a four-year break from single-seaters, FR3.5 debutant Will Bratt improved throughout each session but propped up the bottom of the timing screens.

Following the announcement in late July that Renault would withdraw its backing of FR3.5 in 2016, teams are set to have a meeting with championship organisers on Friday evening.

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Originally on Autosport.com