Maldonado fastest in free practice

Pastor Maldonado set the pace in the 30 minutes of free practice ahead of qualifying for the GP2 Series round at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

The Venezuelan lapped the track in 1:57.055 in his Piquet Sports-run car, just 0.048 seconds quicker than series leader Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering).

Making Pantano's morning even better, his nearest title rivals Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi were down in 15th and 14th respectively after a troubled session.

Valencia winner Vitaly Petrov was third fastest for Campos, ahead of Sebastien Buemi (Arden), the surprisingly rapid Davide Valsecchi (Durango) and Karun Chandhok (iSport).

Andi Zuber (Piquet), Andy Soucek (Super Nova), Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) - who ended his session in the gravel - and his teammate Jerome d'Ambrosio rounded out the top 10.

As well as Senna and di Grassi, also outside the top 10 was Romain Grosjean, who spun his ART car to a halt and ended the session 16th. His teammate, Sakon Yamamoto, also had a wild spin, while Petrov got away with straight-lining Les Combes without spinning.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:57.055 12 2. Pantano Racing Engineering 1:57.103 + 0.048 10 3. Petrov Barwa International Campos 1:57.219 + 0.164 11 4. Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:57.333 + 0.278 12 5. Valsecchi Durango 1:57.537 + 0.482 13 6. Chandhok iSport International 1:57.558 + 0.503 11 7. Zuber Piquet Sports 1:57.576 + 0.521 12 8. Soucek Super Nova Racing 1:57.644 + 0.589 12 9. Kobayashi Dams 1:57.661 + 0.606 11 10. D'Ambrosio Dams 1:57.681 + 0.626 13 11. Parente Super Nova Racing 1:57.760 + 0.705 12 12. Rodriguez FMS International 1:57.803 + 0.748 14 13. Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:57.874 + 0.819 9 14. Di Grassi Barwa International Campos 1:57.905 + 0.850 11 15. Senna iSport International 1:57.998 + 0.943 11 16. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:58.265 + 1.210 10 17. Filippi Trust Team Arden 1:58.420 + 1.365 12 18. Tung Trident Racing 1:58.476 + 1.421 12 19. Nunes DPR 1:58.494 + 1.439 13 20. Conway Trident Racing 1:58.611 + 1.556 13 21. Asmer FMS International 1:58.960 + 1.905 11 22. Valerio Durango 1:59.127 + 2.072 12 23. Villa Racing Engineering 1:59.146 + 2.091 10 24. Valles BCN Competicion 1:59.148 + 2.093 13 25. Herck DPR 1:59.416 + 2.361 11 26. Iaconelli BCN Competicion 1:59.487 + 2.432 13