FR3.5 testing: Dean Stoneman walks away from huge crash at Jerez
Image courtesy of Mattias Persson
GP3 runner-up Dean Stoneman escaped injury from a heavy accident on the opening day of Formula Renault 3.5 testing at Jerez on Thursday afternoon.
The Briton's DAMS car was reportedly destabilised by a strong gust of wind at the fast, left-hand, Turn 7 during the afternoon session.
Stoneman initially hit one wall, before sustaining a second heavier impact against another barrier that caused the car to spin several times and throw the gearbox clear of the car.
Stoneman spent 20 minutes in the Jerez medical centre being checked over, before receiving the all-clear.
The accident occurred on lap 14 of a 20-lap run. Although Stoneman reported no after-effects from the crash, his physio has advised him to consume some sugary food to minimise possible delayed reactions caused by stress on the body.
Despite the spectacular nature of the shunt, Le Mans-based team DAMS believes the car is repairable.
If replacement parts are on hand, Stoneman should run on Friday's second day of testing.
In the earlier morning session, Stoneman posted the third fastest time with 1m28.105s, behind fellow FR3.5 rookie Tio Ellinas at Strakka and pacesetter Roberto Merhi.
For close to an hour during the early part of the afternoon session, Stoneman rehearsed pitstops, something he has no previous experience of in his racing career, and practiced starts.
ELLINAS TOPS DAY ONE
Ellinas set the fastest time of the day overall.
The Strakka Racing driver's afternoon effort of 1m27.430s edged out returning 2014 FR3.5 race winners Oliver Rowland, who continues at Fortec, and Roberto Merhi.
Spaniard Merhi was the pacesetter of the 22 drivers present in the morning session thanks to a time of 1m27.579s on his first day running for Pons Racing.
Philo Paz Patrick Armand tested Pons Racing's second car, although the Indonesian rookie has not been confirmed for the season. Merhi's former team Zeta Corse ran former GP2 race winner Johnny Cecotto Jr, who suffered fuel pump and gearbox issues.
Draco Racing's Pietro Fantin was one of several drivers to suffer an incident in the morning, amid eight interruptions, but recovered to take fourth fastest on the opening session.
Recently announced Fortec signing Jazeman Jaafar was fifth quickest in the opening session and third in the afternoon, ahead of an under-the-weather Beitske Visser.
MORNING TIMES
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roberto Merhi | Pons Racing | 1m27.579s | - | 40 |
2 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | 1m27.994s | 0.415s | 41 |
3 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | 1m28.105s | 0.526s | 31 |
4 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1m28.165s | 0.586s | 23 |
5 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | 1m28.205s | 0.626s | 29 |
6 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | 1m28.250s | 0.671s | 39 |
7 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1m28.470s | 0.891s | 41 |
8 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1m28.473s | 0.894s | 37 |
9 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | 1m28.870s | 1.291s | 16 |
10 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1m29.112s | 1.533s | 30 |
11 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1m29.278s | 1.699s | 45 |
12 | Meindert van Buuren | Lotus | 1m29.457s | 1.878s | 27 |
13 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | 1m29.496s | 1.917s | 47 |
14 | Philo Paz Armand | Pons Racing | 1m29.614s | 2.035s | 35 |
15 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | 1m29.660s | 2.081s | 36 |
16 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | 1m29.788s | 2.209s | 13 |
17 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m30.174s | 2.595s | 18 |
18 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1m30.415s | 2.836s | 24 |
19 | Facu Regalia | Zeta Corse | 1m30.620s | 3.041s | 36 |
20 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m30.924s | 3.345s | 29 |
21 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1m32.090s | 4.511s | 10 |
22 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | 1m33.950s | 6.371s | 8 |
AFTERNOON TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | 1m27.430s | - | 18 |
2 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1m27.434s | 0.004s | 23 |
3 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | 1m27.732s | 0.302s | 31 |
4 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1m27.925s | 0.495s | 28 |
5 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1m27.966s | 0.536s | 19 |
6 | Meindert van Buuren | Lotus | 1m28.074s | 0.644s | 24 |
7 | Roberto Merhi | Pons Racing | 1m28.257s | 0.827s | 14 |
8 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | 1m28.328s | 0.898s | 18 |
9 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | 1m28.338s | 0.908s | 30 |
10 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | 1m28.460s | 1.030s | 28 |
11 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m28.504s | 1.074s | 23 |
12 | Philo Paz Armand | Pons Racing | 1m28.515s | 1.085s | 24 |
13 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1m28.638s | 1.208s | 20 |
14 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1m28.778s | 1.348s | 38 |
15 | Facu Regalia | Zeta Corse | 1m28.844s | 1.414s | 19 |
16 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m28.965s | 1.535s | 24 |
17 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | 1m29.320s | 1.890s | 24 |
18 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1m29.528s | 2.098s | 17 |
19 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | 1m29.717s | 2.287s | 27 |
20 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | 1m30.229s | 2.799s | 33 |
21 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | 1m30.424s | 2.994s | 20 |
22 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1m31.169s | 3.739s | 8 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments