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Matthieu Vaxiviere tops Formula Renault 3.5 test at Motorland Aragon

Lotus Formula 1 Junior Team driver Matthieu Vaxiviere set the fastest time in both sessions of the first day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Motorland Aragon.

Lotus Formula 1 junior driver Matthieu Vaxiviere set the fastest time in both sessions of the first day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Motorland Aragon.

Vaxiviere recorded a fastest lap of 1m41.331s in the morning session, before improving to 1m40.635s in the afternoon.

"This morning, we did a good job with our race settings before fine tuning the set-up for fast laps," said Vaxiviere.

"We wanted to put in a time on new tyres at the end of the session. It turned out good and confirms our potential on this track.

"Our primary satisfaction lies in the step we've made with the new regulations, especially concerning the DRS.

"Tomorrow will be more important, we need to correctly prepare the car in low-downforce configuration [mandatory for Saturday qualifying and races this season] and also pitstops."

Red Bull-backed Dean Stoneman ended the day 0.517s adrift of Vaxiviere in second for reigning champion team DAMS.

Stoneman had suffered a heavy accident that disrupted his previous test outing at Jerez earlier this month and was keen to recover lost ground.

"It was a good day with the second best time this afternoon," said Stoneman.

"We tried different things to get used to the car after Jerez and see if the different changes provoked an improvement or not."

"I think that Vaxiviere put in one more lap than me, so I would've been able to improve even more and I made some mistakes costing me a couple of tenths on my quickest lap.

"Tomorrow, it's all about learning the car with low downforce because we didn't run much at Jerez."

Formula Renault 2.0 graduate Egor Orudzhev took third for Arden Motorsport.

The SMP-backed Russian headed Fortec's Jazeman Jaafar and Jerez pace-setter Tio Ellinas.

Single-seater stalwart Tom Dillmann completed the top six for Carlin.

Fresh from making his F1 debut in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Roberto Merhi completed a dash from Sepang to join the track action during the morning for Pons.

"Today was a positive day as Pons Racing got the car ready when I came here but I do have a little jet lag," said Merhi.

"I would say I am at 90 per cent of my capabilities."

Merhi's Pons team-mate Philo Armand and Orudzhev caused red flags after suffering off-track moments.

The test concludes on Tuesday, when drivers will concentrate on low-downforce running.

MORNING SESSION

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus Dallara/Zytek 1m41.331s - 36
2 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports Dallara/Zytek 1m41.559s 0.228s 37
3 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports Dallara/Zytek 1m41.562s 0.231s 45
4 Tom Dillmann Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara/Zytek 1m41.698s 0.367s 37
5 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.771s 0.440s 36
6 Dean Stoneman DAMS Dallara/Zytek 1m41.871s 0.540s 37
7 Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.883s 0.552s 45
8 Beitske Visser AVF Dallara/Zytek 1m41.935s 0.604s 30
9 Nyck de Vries DAMS Dallara/Zytek 1m42.031s 0.700s 36
10 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m42.119s 0.788s 35
11 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport Dallara/Zytek 1m42.179s 0.848s 39
12 Meindert van Buuren Lotus Dallara/Zytek 1m42.993s 1.662s 47
13 Alfonso Celis AVF Dallara/Zytek 1m43.040s 1.709s 32
14 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse Dallara/Zytek 1m43.441s 2.110s 14
15 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m43.529s 2.198s 52
16 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport Dallara/Zytek 1m43.625s 2.294s 21
17 Roberto Merhi Pons Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m43.754s 2.423s 19
18 Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara/Zytek 1m43.855s 2.524s 37
19 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m43.857s 2.526s 43
20 Bruno Bonifacio International Draco Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m44.247s 2.916s 22
21 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m44.459s 3.128s 34

AFTERNOON SESSION

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus Dallara/Zytek 1m40.635s - 16
2 Dean Stoneman DAMS Dallara/Zytek 1m41.152s 0.517s 28
3 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport Dallara/Zytek 1m41.295s 0.660s 22
4 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports Dallara/Zytek 1m41.452s 0.817s 25
5 Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.457s 0.822s 35
6 Tom Dillmann Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara/Zytek 1m41.509s 0.874s 25
7 Meindert van Buuren Lotus Dallara/Zytek 1m41.525s 0.890s 23
8 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.545s 0.910s 41
9 Bruno Bonifacio International Draco Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.615s 0.980s 20
10 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports Dallara/Zytek 1m41.651s 1.016s 21
11 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.698s 1.063s 35
12 Beitske Visser AVF Dallara/Zytek 1m41.851s 1.216s 21
13 Roberto Merhi Pons Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m41.867s 1.232s 40
14 Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara/Zytek 1m42.281s 1.646s 29
15 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport Dallara/Zytek 1m42.351s 1.716s 29
16 Alfonso Celis AVF Dallara/Zytek 1m42.494s 1.859s 31
17 Nyck de Vries DAMS Dallara/Zytek 1m42.526s 1.891s 31
18 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse Dallara/Zytek 1m42.597s 1.962s 25
19 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m42.658s 2.023s 38
20 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m42.820s 2.185s 31
21 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing Dallara/Zytek 1m44.871s 4.236s 24


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