Robin Frijns takes first Formula Renault 3.5 pole at the Nurburgring
Robin Frijns took pole position for the second Formula Renault 3.5 race of the weekend in a frantic session at the Nurburgring
The championship leader came out on top in a crazy six-minute shootout at the end of the session, which came about after BVM Target's Nikolay Martsenko brought out the red flags by spinning at Turn 3.
The majority of the field had just started flying laps on their second sets of tyres when the stoppage came, so when it restarted everyone headed out immediately.
Fortec driver Frijns was the first to depose Arthur Pic from top spot, and a lap later he went fastest again having been bumped down to third by Marco Sorensen (Lotus) and Sam Bird (ISR). Frijns went quicker still on his final lap, which kept him out of reach of an improving Sorensen just before the chequered flag fell and secured his first pole in the series.
Sorensen's effort left him 0.014 secods ahead of race one winner Jules Bianchi (Tech 1), who will share the second row with Pic. The DAMS driver was the last to cross the finish line before the chequered flag, but after setting a personal best time in the first sector he was held up later in the lap by BVM's Giovanni Venturini.
Cesar Ramos set a time good enough for fifth in the second Lotus entry before spinning in spectacular fashion on the exit of Turn 5, while Kevin Magnussen completed the top six for Carlin.
Bird, who lost the championship lead to Frijns in race one, was eventually knocked back to seventh in the final flurry of improvements. He will be joined on the fourth row by Red Bull newcomer Antonio Felix da Costa's Arden Caterham car.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Robin Frijns Fortec 1m39.991s 2. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m40.101s + 0.110s 3. Jules Bianchi Tech 1 1m40.115s + 0.124s 4. Arthur Pic DAMS 1m40.417s + 0.426s 5. Cesar Ramos Lotus 1m40.441s + 0.450s 6. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 1m40.487s + 0.496s 7. Sam Bird ISR 1m40.513s + 0.522s 8. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1m40.758s + 0.767s 9. Andre Negrao Draco 1m40.782s + 0.791s 10. Mikhail Aleshin RFR 1m40.795s + 0.804s 11. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m40.873s + 0.882s 12. Jake Rosenzweig ISR 1m40.975s + 0.984s 13. Nico Muller Draco 1m41.021s + 1.030s 14. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m41.091s + 1.100s 15. Nick Yelloly Comtec 1m41.112s + 1.121s 16. Carlos Huertas Fortec 1m41.116s + 1.125s 17. Alexander Rossi Arden Caterham 1m41.196s + 1.205s 18. Anton Nebylitskiy RFR 1m41.393s + 1.402s 19. Will Stevens Carlin 1m41.475s + 1.484s 20. Daniil Move P1 1m42.042s + 2.051s 21. Vittorio Ghirelli Comtec 1m42.248s + 2.257s 22. Giovanni Venturini BVM Target 1m42.392s + 2.401s 23. Nikolay Martsenko BVM Target 1m42.410s + 2.419s 24. Yann Cunha Pons 1m42.468s + 2.477s 25. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m43.726s + 3.735s 26. Lucas Foresti DAMS 1m51.469s + 11.478s
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| Series | Formula V8 3.5 |
| Author | Glenn Freeman |
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