Fairuz Fauzy set the fastest time in practice for round seven of the Formula Renault 3.5 series at Portimao on Friday morning.

The Malaysian's 1m32.166s today was 0.5sec faster than Le Mans pole-winner Jon Lancaster, while Oliver Turvey was third for Carlin Motorsport after being forced to change an engine after Thursday's opening collective test.

Teammate Jaime Alguersuari also opted for a fresh engine today, and the ensuing restricted running left the Formula 1 racer in unfamiliar ground in 23rd. James Walker made it three Brits in the top four.

Championship leader Bertrand Baguette was fifth, ahead of visiting GP2 racers Dani Clos and Alberto Valerio. Although Silverstone GP2 victor Valerio is making his 2009 debut with Comtec, the Brazilian has distant World Series by Renault experience having driven the previous generation Dallara in an eventful one-off outing for Victory Engineering at Barcelona in 2006.

With the GP2 finale and the British Formula 3 Championship's penultimate round to be held at the Algarve circuit, several drivers are seeking to gain circuit knowledge.

Both British Formula 3 winners from Spa-Francorchamps last weekend were out in action at Portimao. T-Sport's Adriano Buzaid took part in collective testing for Interwetten in the seat usually occupied by Adrian Zaugg. But the Brazilian will not compete in either of tomorrow's races, reducing the Austrian outfit to a single car for GP2 man Michael Herck.

British F3 championship leader Daniel Ricciardo had an encouraging debut outing for Tech 1. The Australian Red Bull Junior has also been confirmed with Tech 1 for the series climax at Motorland Aragon in October.

"There's a lot to take in, but it's also quite cool as there is not much pressure," said Ricciardo. "The aim is to get into the top eight in qualifying. I had one day in a World Series car with Carlin last year so it is still quite new to me, but Red Bull has put me in with a championship-winning team so I am confident we can get on top of it."

Ricciardo ended the morning in 10th place, two positions behind team-mate Charles Pic.

In a revised format, both of this weekend's Formula Renault 3.5 races will take place on Saturday as the championship plays support to the Le Mans Series.

Times
Pos Driver                   Team             Time          Gap

 1. Fairuz Fauzy             Fortec           1m32.166s

 2. Jon Lancaster            Comtec           1m32.635s  +0.469

 3. Oliver Turvey            Carlin           1m32.662s  +0.496

 4. James Walker             P1               1m32.754s  +0.588

 5. Bertrand Baguette        Draco            1m32.808s  +0.642

 6. Dani Clos                Epsilon          1m32.819s  +0.653

 7. Alberto Valerio          Comtec           1m32.868s  +0.702

 8. Charles Pic              Tech 1           1m32.891s  +0.725

 9. Pasquale Di Sabatino     RC               1m32.945s  +0.779

10. Daniel Ricciardo         Tech 1           1m32.960s  +0.794

11. Chris van der Drift      Epsilon          1m33.080s  +0.914

12. Greg Mansell             Ultimate         1m33.099s  +0.933

13. Sten Pentus              Fortec           1m33.126s  +0.960

14. Marco Barba              Draco            1m33.162s  +0.996

15. Filip Salaquarda         Prema            1m33.250s  +1.084

16. Daniil Move              P1               1m33.306s  +1.140

17. Guillaume Moreau         SG               1m33.396s  +1.230

18. Federico Leo             Pons             1m33.529s  +1.363

19. Marcos Martinez          Pons             1m33.832s  +1.666

20. Anton Nebylitskiy        SG               1m33.904s  +1.738

21. Julien Leal              Prema            1m34.098s  +1.932

22. Adriano Buzaid           Interwetten      1m34.133s  +1.967

23. Jaime Alguersuari        Carlin           1m34.809s  +2.643

24. Miguel Molina            Ultimate         1m34.846s  +2.680

25. Michael Herck            Interwetten      1m34.874s  +2.708