Jerez FR3.5: Rowland takes pole in wet final qualifying
Oliver Rowland was fastest in the second Formula Renault 3.5 qualifying at Jerez to grab the final pole position in the championship’s tenure under the French manufacturer.
Oliver Rowland, Fortec Motorsports
Gregory Lenormand - DPPI
The Briton recorded his benchmark time just as the session ended, denying McLaren junior Nyck de Vries.
With the Sunday programme delayed by 75 minutes due to heavy rain, the session kicked off under soaking wet conditions and it was Alfonso Celis snatching the early lead, followed by de Vries and Rowland.
The sun shining and the lack of further rain improved the conditions for the second part as de Vries quickly jumped into the lead with two consecutive fastest laps.
The McLaren junior found himself down in third as the clock ticked down though as championship-leading duo Rowland and Matthieu Vaxiviere claimed first and second respectively.
Rowland’s time of 1m45.903s earned him his seventh pole of the season, while the Briton will be joined by his season-long rival Vaxiviere on the front row.
Taking third and fourth, de Vries and Egor Orudzhev were fastest of those fighting for third in the standings with Celis securing fifth.
Strakka’s Tio Ellinas grabbed sixth ahead of Nicholas Latifi and race one pole-sitter Tom Dillmann, who had a brief visit to the gravel in the early part of the session.
The top 10 was completed by Red Bull junior Dean Stoneman and Swede Gustav Malja.
While the first two spots in the standings are settled, the third position is still to be decided among six drivers with de Vries currently occupying the place.
Qualifying results
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
1 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1'45.903 | |
2 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1'46.019 | 0.116 |
3 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | 1'46.352 | 0.449 |
4 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1'46.768 | 0.865 |
5 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1'47.056 | 1.153 |
6 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | 1'47.256 | 1.353 |
7 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | 1'47.328 | 1.425 |
8 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1'47.409 | 1.506 |
9 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | 1'47.467 | 1.564 |
10 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | 1'47.477 | 1.574 |
11 | Andre Negrao | International Draco Racing | 1'47.702 | 1.799 |
12 | Yu Kanamaru | Pons Racing | 1'48.082 | 2.179 |
13 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1'48.157 | 2.254 |
14 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | 1'48.211 | 2.308 |
15 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1'48.545 | 2.642 |
16 | Nikita Zlobin | Pons Racing | 1'48.687 | 2.784 |
17 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1'48.773 | 2.870 |
18 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | 1'48.987 | 3.084 |
19 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | 1'49.846 | 3.943 |
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