Swiss racer ahead of Zanella and Marinescu in closely fought session
Alex Fontana was the quickest man during Thursday's Formula Two test at Monza with the 20-year-old setting his best time early on in the second session and retaining the top spot throughout.
The mornings first stint saw drivers faced with damp but drying conditions with competitive lap times not being set until the final 10 minutes, leading to a flurry of activity which saw Romanian Mihai Marinescu finish on top followed by Latvian newcomer Harald Schlegelmilcha mere 0.022s behind.
Conditions and times greatly improved for the second and final session with Fontana, who is supported by Alessia Regazzoni this weekenddaughter of the legendary Clayposting a time (1:38.058s) almost a second quicker than last years pole lap.
That was enough to edge out 2011 F2 runner-up Christopher Zanella, while 23-year-old Marinescu, who picked up his maiden F2 win here last year, ended third overall. Kevin Mirocha finished fourth ahead of another impressive showing from Axcil Jefferies, with a fraction over three tenths separating the top five.
Championship leader Luciano Bacheta, who remains favourite to secure the title crown this weekend, ended the day sixth fastest ahead of Markus Pommer with Dino Zamparelli securing eighth spot despite a trip to the gravel in the first session on the exit of the Parabollica.
Ninth position went to Swiss teenager and Bacheta's nearest rival Matho Tuscher with Max Snegirev completing the top 10 ahead of what is set to be a fascinating F2 season finale where one driver will walk away with a Williams F1 test.
Today's first practice session gets underway at 12:10 (local time) with full coverage on the official F2 websitewww.formulatwo.com
F2 Results: Monza test session:
1. Alex Fontana, 1:38.058s2. Christopher Zanella, +0.195s 3. Mihai Marinescu, +0.223s4. Kevin Mirocha, +0.311s 5. Axcil Jefferies, +0.314s 6. Luciano Bacheta, +0.442s 7. Markus Pommer, +0.497s8. Dino Zamparelli, +0.724s9. Matho Tuscher, +1.060s 10. Max Snegirev, +1.230s 11. David Zhu, +1.257s12. Plamen Kralev, +1.264s 13. Daniel McKenzie, +1.343s14. Harald Schlegelmilch, +1.583s15. Hector Hurst, +1.924s
