The race track in Zolder is quiet famous for it`s freak weather conditions and the BOSS GP series had to face this aggravated circumstance during their 2 free practice sessions on Friday afternoon. 20 min before FP1 rainfall set in and all teams had to quickly change tires and setup`s in order to pay tribute to the fast changing situation. Finally 13 cars went out on the meanwhile wet track. From the beginning it was Florian Schnitzenbaumer (GER), who set the pace with his Dallara GP2. He delivered an astonishing performance during the 20 minutes session and entered the pitlane with the best lap time (1:41, 572) followed by the Polish driver Jakub Smiechowski and the French pilot Christopher Brenier. P4 went to Wolfgang Jaksch (GER), who also showed his driving skills in the wet and he finished only 0,4 sec behind Brenier. The current Championship leader Johann Ledermair (AUT) reached P5 followed by the first and fastest driver of the Masters Class, Walter Steding (GER) with his Renault 3,5l World Series car. Further top 10 ranking in FP1: P7 Henk de Boer, P8 Karl-Heinz Becker, P9 Gilles Brenier, P10 Christian Eicke!

After a 90 minutes break FP 2 was scheduled and the conditions changed in the meantime. The rain stopped right after FP1 and the track dried off pretty quickly. 15 cars joined the training session with slicks and a dry setup. Johann Ledermair (AUT) immediately took over the initiative and nailed a 1:22 lap time in the asphalt. Florian Schnitzenbaumer for the first time broke into the phalanx of the Austrian driver and his direct contender Smiechowski and stopped the car in the pits on P2 with a final 1:23,201! Smiechowski ended up on P3 with a gap of 1,1 sec  behind Schnitzenbaumer. Ledermair improved his best time in his last fast lap again as he passed the checkered flag with a 1:21,328!. Christopher Brenier was not only fast in the wet, his Superleague Formula V12 is always a candidate for a podium spot and after FP 2 the French driver could be truly satisfied with P4. P5 went to Henk de Boer, he did a big step from the wet to the dry practice. Wolfgang Jaksch (GER) finished P6 after being only out on track for 3 counted laps.

The current Masters leader Hans Laub, who was not able to join FP1 due to a technical problem (break line), confirmed again his current „run“ with P7 overall and fastest Masters car and he left his follower Karl-Heinz Becker directly behind himself. P9 went to Gilles Brenier (FRA) and Armando Mangini (ITA) completed the top 10 of FP2 with his Dallara GP2.

The results of both free practices show a further tendency towards closer results and the grudge match between Ledermair and Smiechowski seem to extend as Florian Schnitzenbaumer has definitely joined the club here in Zolder. However, the „freaky“ weather forecast for the weekend in Zolder may throw all the predictions into disarray.

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