Nurburgring FR3.5: Roberto Merhi leads practice for Zeta Corse
Roberto Merhi led the way in Formula Renault 3.5 free practice at the Nurburgring, two weeks on from taking his maiden win in the category at Moscow Raceway
The former Mercedes DTM racer, who dominated the second race in Russia for Zeta Corse, shot to the top of the times at the end of the day's running, where he was one of the last cars to take the chequered flag.
His late effort demoted 2013 Formula Renault Eurocup champion Pierre Gasly - who had moved to the front with three minutes to go - to second, as the majority of the field improved in the closing stages in preparation for Saturday morning's first qualifying session.
Shortly after Gasly had gone fastest, his 2013 FR2.0 rival Oliver Rowland slotted in behind him, but the two Eurocup graduates were split by championship leader Carlos Sainz Jr and Gasly's Arden team-mate Will Buller, who ended the session third and fourth respectively.
Will Stevens, who remains an outside threat in the title race, was sixth fastest, coming to Germany after testing for the Caterham Formula 1 team earlier this week at Silverstone.
Before the session came alive in the final four minutes, Sauber F1 test driver Sergey Sirotkin's benchmark from first practice remained the quickest time of the day.
The Russian, who felt that he started his final run too late at the end of session two, was comfortably quickest earlier in the day, leading Fortec team-mate Rowland by three tenths of a second, while third-fastest Marco Sorensen was half a second adrift.
The FR3.5 grid has expanded to 22 cars this weekend, with the addition of Alfonso Celis Jr in a second Tech 1 car, and Comtec Racing returning after missing the last two events, with Briton Cameron Twynham now at the wheel.
Matthieu Vaxiviere, who missed the Spa and Moscow rounds due to a back injury sustained during the Monaco weekend, returns to the Lotus line-up after being replaced by Richie Stanaway while he was on the sidelines.
Practice 2 Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Roberto Merhi Zeta Corse 1m42.179s 17 2. Pierre Gasly Arden 1m42.208s +0.029s 16 3. Carlos Sainz Jr. DAMS 1m42.275s +0.096s 15 4. William Buller Arden 1m42.445s +0.266s 17 5. Oliver Rowland Fortec 1m42.557s +0.378s 17 6. Will Stevens Strakka 1m42.608s +0.429s 17 7. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m42.624s +0.445s 18 8. Matias Laine Strakka 1m42.796s +0.617s 16 9. Marco Sorensen Tech 1 1m42.837s +0.658s 16 10. Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1m42.904s +0.725s 19 11. Norman Nato DAMS 1m42.976s +0.797s 17 12. Luca Ghiotto Draco 1m43.001s +0.822s 17 13. Oscar Tunjo Pons 1m43.004s +0.825s 17 14. Pietro Fantin Draco 1m43.160s +0.981s 18 15. Sergey Sirotkin Fortec 1m43.216s +1.037s 15 16. Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse 1m43.494s +1.315s 15 17. Beitske Visser AVF 1m43.759s +1.580s 14 18. Jazeman Jaafar ISR 1m43.870s +1.691s 16 19. Cameron Twynham Comtec 1m44.293s +2.114s 21 20. Meindert van Buuren Pons 1m44.304s +2.125s 8 21. Alfonso Celis Tech 1 1m44.554s +2.375s 16 22. Zoel Amberg AVF 1m44.642s +2.463s 14 Practice 1 Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Sergey Sirotkin Fortec 1m42.898s 14 2. Oliver Rowland Fortec 1m43.267s +0.369s 17 3. Marco Sorensen Tech 1 1m43.414s +0.516s 17 4. Will Buller Arden 1m43.458s +0.560s 16 5. Carlos Sainz Jr DAMS 1m43.468s +0.570s 16 6. Norman Nato DAMS 1m43.510s +0.612s 16 7. Pierre Gasly Arden 1m43.547s +0.649s 16 8. Luca Ghiotto Draco 1m43.611s +0.713s 19 9. Jazeman Jaafar ISR 1m43.652s +0.754s 16 10. Oscar Tunjo Pons 1m43.685s +0.787s 17 11. Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1m43.778s +0.880s 17 12. Zoel Amberg AVF 1m43.839s +0.941s 17 13. Pietro Fantin Draco 1m43.856s +0.958s 19 14. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m43.936s +1.038s 17 15. Matias Laine Strakka 1m43.956s +1.058s 16 16. Roberto Merhi Zeta 1m44.019s +1.121s 13 17. Meindert van Buuren Pons 1m44.055s +1.157s 15 18. Beitske Visser AVF 1m44.274s +1.376s 18 19. Will Stevens Strakka 1m44.326s +1.428s 14 20. Alfonso Celis Tech 1 1m44.449s +1.551s 15 21. Roman Mavlanov Zeta 1m44.581s +1.683s 14 22. Cameron Twynham Comtec 1m46.503s +3.605s 17
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