
Dutchman Renger van der Zande has finished on top of the first practice session as the penultimate race weekend of the season begins in Portugal. The Hitech driver led the way at Portimao from championship leader Daniel Ricciardo's Carlin and the ART pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Jules Bianchi.
Van der Zande, fresh after his Silverstone win last time out, topped the timesheets on Friday with a best effort of 1:38.977 on the new track. Ricciardo remained firmly in touch, however, just over a tenth of a second behind and currently well-placed to extend his championship lead this weekend.
Columbia's Carlos Huertas completed the top five for Räikkönen Robertson Racing, behind the two ARTs, as Max Chilton led the way for British honours with sixth position for Carlin.
Practice 1 did not go according to plan for the championship's second-placed man, however, as Austria's Walter Grubmüller - currently 36 points behind Ricciardo in the standings - languished in 14th place in the second Hitech car.
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