Race report
Formula V8 3.5 Aragon
Van Buuren penalty gifts Rowland first Aragon win
Oliver Rowland took honours in the opening Formula Renault 3.5 race of the year after Meindert van Buuren, who was first on the road, was penalised for a jump start.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Apr 26, 2015, 9:00 AM
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The Dutch driver vaulted from third on the grid into the lead at the start as a result of his misdemeanour, nudging polesitter Matthieu Vaxiviere wide at the first corner before cutting underneath front row starter Rowland to seize the advantage.
Van Buuren proceeded to build a cushion at the head of the field ahead of Rowland, but the Lotus driver was soon placed under investigation and was handed a 20-second time penalty for jumping the start.
That made Rowland the effective race leader, having fended off teammate Jazeman Jaafar in the early stages, and the Brit duly led home a one-two for the Fortec team once van Buuren’s penalty was applied.
DAMS’ Dean Stoneman completed the podium in third place, losing touch with the Fortec duo and spending much of the race with Vaxiviere on his tail. The Frenchman was unable to get close enough to the Red Bull junior to attempt a pass however, and was forced to be content with fourth.
Fifth fell to van Buuren as the next man in line, Pietro Fantin (Draco), failed to stay within 20 seconds of the lead. The Brazilian finished sixth, having passed McLaren junior Nyck de Vries (DAMS).
Nicholas Latifi (Arden) came out on top in a close battle with Tom Dillmann (Carlin) to claim eighth, while Gustav Malja (Strakka) came from the back of the grid after losing his second place grid spot due to a ride height infringement to complete the top 10.
Manor Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi struggled for pace throughout, dropping outside the top 10 early on before parking his Pons Racing-run machine with a handful of minutes left of the race. A first corner collision also accounted for Tio Ellinas (Strakka) and Sean Gelael (Carlin).
Race results:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 42m06.315 2 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports 2.117 3 Dean Stoneman DAMS 4.755 4 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 7.081 5 Meindert van Buuren Lotus 16.394 6 Pietro Fantin Draco 20.368 7 Nyck de Vries DAMS 27.330 8 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport 32.844 9 Tom Dillmann Carlin 35.757 10 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing 35.891 11 Bruno Bonifacio Draco 54.408 12 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing 1m11.935 13 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing 14 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing Retirements - Roberto Merhi Pons Racing - Alfonso Celis AVF - Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport - Beitske Visser AVF - Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing - Sean Gelael Carlin
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