Downton reserve driver Matteo Zetticci has topped practice ahead of the Belgian V-Prix, becoming the first reserve driver ever to do so as Enrique Ruiz and Felix Perez crashed in a dramatic incident. While on an out lap Perez slowed on the outside into Les Combes but Ruiz - overcommitted into the corner - braked too late and locked his left front, careering into the FIRST and taking both out of the session. Perez had managed only one flying lap at that point and that was only a sighter, so the Mexican ended up bottom of the time sheets, while despite just four laps for Ruiz the Brazilian still found himself in the top five, with his team mate, Klaas van Snelheid and the second FIRST of Will Hoskins separating him from Zetticci. The Italian was just over a tenth quicker than Simon but had been over a second clear of the field early on and laughed at the end of the session when he was told over the radio he was P1, though the team were quick to stress him and van Snelheid were on different run plans - the Dutchman some three tenths back. Behind the usual suspects Puccio Giodano was the best of the midfield runners with sixth fastest ahead of Sergio Alvarez and James Vasquez, while another strong performance for Dominykas Zvironas put him once again into the top nine - this time in his red, blue and white Ocelot as the team mark their 100th race entered in Formula Virtual. Thierry Xylander completed the top ten but complained of a long brake pedal towards the end of the session, while even Nick Addison was surprised to put his Franklin eleventh, but the performance will give the team great confidence heading into qualifying. Jean Mattson struggled to match his team mate once again, while Johan Halvosen was the best placed North Star in fourteenth - the team keen to improve in qualifying tomorrow in their scrap for fourth in the Constructors' Championship with Lopez and Ingram. Enzo Domenicalli was only a quarter of a second down on his team mate but some eight places back, while just behind him Olen Inman completed the top twenty. The Monegasque driver returns to the series this weekend to replace the injured Karl Beckenbauer, but seemingly struggled to get up to pace - despite a number of practice outings already this season. While Franklin seem comfortable in the Q1 battle tomorrow, the other two spots are far less certain - as Arrow seemingly have competition from AMR. New recruit Rafael Palou - on loan from Lopez - was a strong twenty third fastest, four tenths clear of team Finn Schnyder and ahead of both Arrow cars. The German outfit seemingly struggled to get to grips with the longest circuit on the calendar, as Lewis Ellington even ended up behind Giani Ledesma's Meteor, while Felix Beyer was the last driver to set a reprsentative time. See below for full practice classification:
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