19-year-old leads Swiss trio ahead of Tuscher and Zanella

Alex Fontana led a trio of Swiss drivers to finish on top during today's (Friday) second Formula Two practice session at a sun-soaked Paul Ricard.

The 19-year-old went top early on and remained unchallenged throughout the 45-minute session, despite a flurry of last lap surges, with fellow countrymen Matho Tuscher and practice one pace-setter Christopher Zanella in third.

The sun continued to shine as the second session got underway with Fontana quickly establishing his authority after opting to use his fresh set of tyres at the start to post a best time of 1:52.841s.

With many drivers opting to set their best times later on, it wasn't until late in the session before anyone came close to eclipsing Fontana's best. Swiss teenager Tuscher came closest ending 0.349s adrift with Daniel McKenzie finishing just outside the top three and Pole Kevin Mirocha, fresh from his maiden F2 victory at Brands Hatch, completing the top five.

Championship leader Luciano Bacheta finished sixth ahead of Markus Pommer and Dino Zamparelli, who picked up his maiden podium last weekend at his home rounds. Plamen Kralev and Axcil Jefferies completed the top 10 while round 10 winner Mihai Marinescu could only manage P14.

Tomorrow's opening qualifying session gets underway at 09:00 (local time) with full coverage on the F2 website.

F2 Results: Paul Ricard - Practice 2:

1. Alex Fontana, 1:52.841s 2. Matho Tuscher, +0.349s 3. Christopher Zanella, +0.410s 4. Daniel McKenzie, +0.688s5. Kevin Mirocha, +0.861s      6. Luciano Bacheta, +0.946s    7. Markus Pommer, +1.203s    8. Dino Zamparelli, +1.246s    9. Plamen Kralev, +1.684s   10. Axcil Jefferies, +1.704s 11. Hector Hurst, +2.363s   12. David Zhu, +2.685s13. Mauro Calamia, 2.735s14. Mihai Marinescu, +3.367s