Nurburgring FR3.5: Oliver Rowland takes pole again for race two
Formula Renault 3.5 championship leader Oliver Rowland took a second consecutive pole position at the Nurburgring in qualifying for Sunday's race, boosting his ambitions of achieving a double victory

The Racing Steps-supported Fortec driver recorded his fastest time of 1m40.637s in the final minute of the half-hour session, to knock Silverstone winner Tio Ellinas off the provisional pole slot.
If Rowland's form was familiar, Pietro Fantin in second and Tech 1 Racing rookie Roy Nissany achieved their highest grid positions of the season in second and third after finding late gains.
Brazilian Fantin, who achieved a podium and fastest lap at Silverstone last weekend, was a fixture at the top of the timing screens for much of the session.
The gap between Fantin in second and Carlin racer Tom Dillmann in fourth was just 0.088 seconds. Behind the Frenchman, Ellinas picked up fifth in an all-Strakka third row completed by Gustav Malja.
The DAMS pairing of Nurburgring race one first lap retiree Dean Stoneman and Saturday's runner-up Nyck de Vries ended the morning in seventh and ninth, sandwiching Rowland's closest title challenger Matthieu Vaxiviere.
After starring on Saturday, FR3.5 debutant Yu Kanamaru had a tough second qualifying session and will start last. The Japanese driver's Pons team-mate and fellow newcomer Rene Binder will line-up 17th.
Qualifying took place in overcast conditions and it was apparent that tyres were taking longer than normal to come up to temperature. Thunderstorms are forecast in the region this afternoon.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1m40.637s | - |
2 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1m40.906s | 0.269s |
3 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | 1m40.976s | 0.339s |
4 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m40.994s | 0.357s |
5 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | 1m41.031s | 0.394s |
6 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | 1m41.064s | 0.427s |
7 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | 1m41.088s | 0.451s |
8 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1m41.160s | 0.523s |
9 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | 1m41.224s | 0.587s |
10 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | 1m41.488s | 0.851s |
11 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | 1m41.673s | 1.036s |
12 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1m41.722s | 1.085s |
13 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | 1m41.771s | 1.134s |
14 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | 1m41.873s | 1.236s |
15 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1m42.047s | 1.410s |
16 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1m42.059s | 1.422s |
17 | Rene Binder | Pons Racing | 1m42.223s | 1.586s |
18 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1m42.317s | 1.680s |
19 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1m42.386s | 1.749s |
20 | Yu Kanamaru | Pons Racing | 1m42.415s | 1.778s |
Nurburgring FR3.5: Oliver Rowland stretches lead with another win
Nurburgring FR3.5: Tio Ellinas wins second race in mixed conditions
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