Vietoris tops wet practice at Zolder

Christian Vietoris set the best time of the wet first practice session for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder.

A torrential downpour caused the start of the session to be delayed and it was eventually cut from 60 to 30 minutes.

Race winners from the rival British and European championships, Brendon Hartley and Nico Hulkenberg, traded fastest laps for much of the half hour before a dry line emerged in the final five minutes, causing times to tumble at the end.

By matching Hulkenberg lap for lap, Hartley displaced some of the fears that the British teams will be handicapped by their unfamiliarity with the Kumho tyres, at least in wet conditions. They will be hoping for more rain throughout the weekend to minimise the advantage gained by those used to running on Kumhos.

The laptimes improved by around four seconds in the last five minutes as the dry line was established and all the best times were set at the end of the session. Just two of the top 18 in the session didn't set their best times on their last lap.

Hartley was unable to improve his time in the last two laps after spinning off exiting the Villeneuve chicane, while Vietoris, James Jakes, Hulkenberg, Esteban Guerrieri, and Richard Philippe all bettered his time with their final efforts.

Jules Bianchi, John Martin, and Mika Maki completed the top ten with Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara 11th.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:35.987 2. James Jakes ART D/M 1:36.013 +0.026 3. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:36.206 +0.219 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:36.785 +0.798 5. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:37.005 +1.018 6. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:37.113 +1.126 7. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:37.124 +1.137 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:37.222 +1.235 9. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:37.300 +1.313 10. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:37.424 +1.437 11. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:37.438 +1.451 12. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:37.483 +1.496 13. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:37.622 +1.635 14. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:37.837 +1.850 15. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:37.862 +1.875 16. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:37.884 +1.897 17. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:38.098 +2.111 18. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:38.116 +2.129 19. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:38.324 +2.337 20. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:38.383 +2.396 21. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:38.390 +2.403 22. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:38.430 +2.443 23. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:38.525 +2.538 24. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:38.592 +2.605 25. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:38.952 +2.965 26. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:39.119 +3.132 27. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:39.346 +3.359 28. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:39.351 +3.364 29. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:39.420 +3.433 30. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:39.620 +3.633 31. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:39.918 +3.931 32. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:39.977 +3.990 33. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:40.157 +4.170 34. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:40.215 +4.228 35. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:40.483 +4.496 36. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:42.716 +6.729 37. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:43.629 +7.642 D/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/V Dallara Volkswagen