Amid the wet conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, Jack Doohan made an impressive start in Free Practice, leading the opening session with a time of 2:16.851. Dennis Hauger improved late to secure second place, while Victor Martins of ART Grand Prix showed strong pace by claiming third.
Initially, Martins set the pace with a time of 2:19.455, ahead of his teammate Théo Pourchaire, as most drivers, except for the ART pair and Joshua Mason of PHM Racing by Charouz, chose to stay in the pits, hoping for better track conditions and to gain as much knowledge as possible in his new car.
With the rain gradually subsiding, only the Trident duo dared to venture out on the track. However, Clement Novalak triggered a Virtual Safety Car as he parked his car along the Kemmel Straight after encountering trouble over the kerbs at Eau Rouge.
When the green flag was waved again, Martins promptly improved his previous time, clocking in at 2:18.161.
Following his recent Budapest Feature Race victory, Doohan became the first driver to break into the 2:17s, setting a time of 2:17.970 and leading his fellow Alpine Academy junior by a mere tenth of a second.
Championship leader Frederik Vesti then managed to surpass them all with a time of 2:17.571, but Martins quickly fought back and regained the lead by a narrow margin of 0.0925 seconds.
In the end, Doohan returned to the top spot, securing an impressive time of 2:16.851, over six-tenths faster than the rest of the field. Hauger moved up to second place in the final minutes of the session, trailing the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver by three-tenths of a second, as the Spa circuit slowly dried up.
However, the session was cut short with two minutes left on the clock, as Mason encountered issues and stopped on the track at the pitlane exit. As a result, the session did not resume, with Doohan finishing as the fastest driver, followed by Hauger and Martins.
Behind them, Vesti claimed fourth place, with Zane Maloney and Enzo Fittipaldi from Rodin Carlin securing fifth and sixth, respectively. Roman Stanek of Trident finished in seventh place, ahead of Pourchaire and Ralph Boschung of Campos Racing. Kush Maini rounded out the top 10.
Image: @DutchPhotoAg
