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Monaco Formula Renault 3.5: Jazeman Jaafar leads Fortec front row

Jazeman Jaafar will start Sunday's Formula Renault 3.5 round in Monaco from pole position

The Malaysian, who has finished on the podium in Monaco in both his previous visits, commanded qualifying to record a quickest lap of 1m23.425s.

In a split session, divided into two groups allocated 25 minutes each, Fortec achieved a lock-out of the front row of the grid.

Friday practice pacesetter and championship leader Oliver Rowland dominated the earlier A Group qualifying so takes second place.

Aragon race winner Matthieu Vaxiviere settled down after an eventful Friday, ending the morning 0.402 seconds adrift of Jaafar and second fastest in the quicker B group.

The Frenchman will be joined on the second row by Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion Nyck de Vries, while the Dutchman's DAMS team-mate Dean Stoneman survived a run-in with the armco at Sainte Devote to take fifth ahead of Tio Ellinas.

The A group drivers were dealt slower tracker conditions by running first and their session was interrupted by a hefty shunt for Indonesian rookie Philo Paz Patric Armand at the Swimming Pool.

The Formula Renault 2.0 graduate had clipped the inside barrier on the left-hand approach to the complex, sending his machine across the road into the guardrail on the right-hand apex, which destroyed the right-side of his Pons machine.

Armand then speared backwards into the armco on the exit of the Swimming Pool, coming to rest in a shower of foam and debris.

More than a dozen marshals were put to work with cement dust and brushes to clear up the accident scene, but oil flags were required when the session resumed.

Rowland would improve to a provisional pole time of 1m24.370s, as behind de Vries produced a lap of 1m24.913s to jump Ellinas, Gustav Malja and Pietro Fantin.

The B group session came alive just past the mid-way point, with Jaafar occupying the head of the timing screens.

GP3 runner-up Stoneman moved into second, only to lock-up at Sainte Devote and smack the barriers.

The Briton was able to dive into the escape road and execute a spin turn, allowing him to rejoin with minimal delay and no visible damage.

Simultaneously, Roy Nissany lost control at Masssent, shredding a Casino de Monte Carlo trackside banner and incurring substantial rear-end damage.

The Tech 1 racer then dispersed various large parts of bodywork and rear-wing along the track as he returned to the pits for attention.

Many drivers opted to pit at this time, but GP2 refugee Tom Dillmann stayed out and enjoyed a traffic free road to briefly move into second before being bumped down the order by Vaxiviere and Stoneman.

STARTING GRID:

Pos Driver Team Time
1 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports 1m23.425s
2 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1m24.370s
3 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1m23.827s
4 Nyck de Vries DAMS 1m24.913s
5 Dean Stoneman DAMS 1m24.127s
6 Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing 1m25.127s
7 Tom Dillmann Jagonya Ayam with Carlin 1m24.388s
8 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing 1m25.332s
9 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport 1m24.635s
10 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1m25.444s
11 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport 1m25.028s
12 Alfonso Celis AVF 1m25.850s
13 Bruno Bonifacio International Draco Racing 1m25.359s
14 Beitske Visser AVF 1m25.873s
15 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing 1m25.659s
16 Meindert van Buuren Lotus 1m26.348s
17 Alex Fontana Pons Racing 1m26.167s
18 Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam with Carlin 1m26.841s
19 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing 1m28.122s
20 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing 1m34.213s

Group B set odd position, Group A set evens

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