PRACTICE: Martins leads Browning in opening Silverstone session

ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins made a fast start to his Silverstone weekend by topping the timesheets of Friday morning’s Practice session.

The Frenchman set a 1:41.699 right at the end of the 45-minute session and was the quickest of all, beating Hitech TGR rival Luke Browning in second by 0.051s, as DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford rounded out the top three.

Sebastián Montoya got things underway with the first push lap of the day on the Hard tyre, the PREMA Racing driver’s 1:43.160 the early pace-setting time, 0.145s clear of Martins.

Montoya improved to a 1:42.465 on his next lap, with Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli over two-and-a-half tenths behind the Colombian in second.

Martins then took over at the top thanks to a 1:42.393, with Kush Maini then going to within 0.009s of his ART rival.

However, Martins lost the fastest time to another French driver,as TRIDENT’s Sami Meguetounif went quickest with a 1:42.369.

With just under 26 minutes left in the session, the Red Flags were waved following Rafael Villagómez’s spin into the gravel at Turn 16.

With the Van Amersfoort Racing car cleared, the action resumed with just under 17 minutes to go, and once the fast laps started, Browning took over at the top.

The Briton’s 1:42.324 put him 0.006s clear of Alexander Dunne, although both were quickly demoted by Martins, who retook P1 with a 1:42.317.

There were several improvements though as Montoya went fastest with a 1:42.004. But Browning was quicker by 0.254s to take P1 back on his next attempt on a 1:41.750.

Heading into the final few minutes, Martins jumped up to second, 0.056s off his fellow Williams Academy member, as the drivers prepared for their final flying laps.

Several drivers improved on their final lap, but it was only Martins that could beat Browning with a 1:41.699 as the chequered flag waved. Crawford had gone fastest in the first two sectors but a lockup at the final chicane left him third ahead of Dino Beganovic.

Montoya wound up fifth, ahead of MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe and Maini in seventh. Verschoor was eighth, in front of Ritomo Miyata, as Roman Stanek rounded out the top 10.

The drivers will be back out on track in Silverstone later today for Qualifying at 15:55 local time.