Championship leader Klaas van Snelheid was fastest in practice for the second weekend in succession. The Dutchman led Felix Perez by 2 tenths after the 30 drivers had a hour to either learn or remember the layout of Magny-Cours following the series' return to the circuit. At the start of practice most of the top teams stayed in their garages. After a while the two Mathershaw cars came out onto the track, much to the delight of the French crowd. Simon went fastest ahead of Kangur, but the two were soon toppled by the two Franklins, with Kinnumen placing first ahead of his teammate. Perez was the next to go fastest, just ahead of the Finn. There was trouble for Powers though, as the reigning champion came across the line to start his flying lap his engine died immediately and he coasted to a halt next to the barrier. Downton still had something to smile about though, as van Snelheid went a tenth quicker then Perez to go to the top of the table. After most teams completeled their long runs, they went out for a final flurry of qualifying laps. Perez improved slightly but Klaas went quicker yet to end the day 2 tenths ahead of the Mexican. Kinnumen and Ruiz failed to improve, while Zozulya, after spinning at the start of the session, went up to fifth, giving FIRST hope for the race. Mathershaw were ultimately left disappointed with Simon only sixth and Kangur further back in eight. The two were split by Mattson. The Frenchman had felt comfortable in his Ingram and was able to keep up with the front runners, surprising many as he is yet to score points this season. Davenport stunned even more people with a fantastic lap to go ninth as Cheema looked fastest of the new teams, with Milkovich backing it up with 16th. Jules Simon rounded out the top ten in his Meteor. Holmqvist had a good day with Bergkvist 11th and Beyer 13th, separated by Garcia as North Star struggled. Vasquez and Halvosen followed, ahead of Wagner, Xylander and Giodano. De la Fuente, Thunder and Hoskins were separated by 4 hundredths in 20th, 21st and 22nd. Lopez struggled in 23rd, spinning regularly, while Alvarez and Ostberg had engine and gearbox issues respectively which limited their running. Schnyder was the highest AMR in 26th with Ryan annoyed with 27th, a year on from his team Ocelot's maiden win. Hutchinson and Kovalenko were last of the drivers to set a lap time ahead of a dejected Powers. See the full classification after practice below:
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