Monza FR3.5: Red Bull man Carlos Sainz Jr bounces back with pole
Carlos Sainz Jr bounced back from a disappointing Formula Renault 3.5 season-opener at Monza to take a dominant pole position for race two on Sunday
The Spaniard, whose DAMS car had to be pushed off the grid in race one with an electrical problem when he was supposed to start from pole, moved to the top of the times with five minutes remaining.
From then on he never appeared under threat, finishing the session with a margin of seven tenths of a second over his nearest challenger.
That honour went to Lotus junior driver Marlon Stockinger, who bumped Jazeman Jaafar off the front row as the chequered flag came out.
Will Buller had to settle for fourth after making a mistake at the first chicane on his final lap, and behind him Pietro Fantin and Sauber Formula 1 reserve Sergey Sirotkin completed the third row.
Sirotkin and Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland appeared to have recovered from a difficult Saturday as both were contenders for provisional pole during the first runs of the session.
However, neither appeared to get a particularly clear lap on their second set of tyres, with Rowland plummeting to 15th by the end of the session.
He will line up just behind race one winner and championship leader Will Stevens, who had a similarly tricky session and could only manage 14th on the grid.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Carlos Sainz Jr. DAMS 1m32.684s 2. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m33.410s +0.726s 3. Jazeman Jaafar ISR 1m33.557s +0.873s 4. Will Buller Arden 1m33.574s +0.890s 5. Pietro Fantin Draco 1m33.619s +0.935s 6. Sergey Sirotkin Fortec 1m33.620s +0.936s 7. Roberto Merhi Zeta 1m33.649s +0.965s 8. Luca Ghiotto Draco 1m33.747s +1.063s 9. Pierre Gasly Arden 1m33.765s +1.081s 10. Matias Laine Strakka 1m33.839s +1.155s 11. Zoel Amberg AVF 1m33.903s +1.219s 12. Nikolay Martsenko Comtec 1m33.943s +1.259s 13. Norman Nato DAMS 1m34.062s +1.378s 14. Will Stevens Strakka 1m34.145s +1.461s 15. Oliver Rowland Fortec 1m34.217s +1.533s 16. Beitske Visser AVF 1m34.564s +1.880s 17. Meindert van Buuren Pons 1m34.665s +1.981s 18. Roman Mavlanov Zeta 1m34.708s +2.024s 19. Oliver Webb Pons 1m34.714s +2.030s 20. Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1m34.725s +2.041s 21. Marco Sorensen Tech 1 1m34.489s +1.805s* * Five-place grid penalty
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