Turvey and Fauzy top first qualifying
Oliver Turvey and Fairuz Fauzy set the fastest times in the group stage of qualifying, ahead of the grid deciding Formula Renault 3.5 Superpole session at the Nurburgring this morning
P1 Motorsport's James Walker demonstrated that the team's recent upheavals after a devastating factory fire had not taken the edge off its competitiveness. Walker made it two Britons at the head of the B session, finishing just a tenth behind Turvey's benchmark 1m46.176s.
Guillaume Moreau was promoted to third in the group after Chris van der Drift was stripped of his fastest time for causing a red flag. The Epsilon Euskadi driver had lost control on the exit of the final corner with just two minutes of the session remaining. Epsilon was left frustrated by the decision to bring a halt to proceedings, as van der Drift had been able to restart his car and return to the pits. The Kiwi will start from the 10th row for this afternoon's race.
Walker's P1 team-mate Daniil Move, Tech 1 racer Brendon Hartley and four-time winner Marcos Martinez completed the top six drivers who will progress into superpole from the B group.
Mofaz Fortec's Fairuz Fauzy appeared in complete control of the later A session. The Malaysian elected to put in an early sequence of fast laps in 1m46s when, at the time, none of his competitors had broken below the 1m48s barrier.
Only Comtec driver Jon Lancaster's 1m45.804s awakened Fauzy's interest sufficiently for the Malaysian to take to the track again and attempt to recover his position. With minimal fluster, Fauzy nailed two quick laps in succession, both under Lancaster's best, to set a fastest time of 1m45.498s.
Fauzy's team-mate Sten Pentus finished an eventual fourth, behind Lancaster and Tech 1's Charles Pic.
Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Jaime Alguersuari was fifth for Carlin, having patiently sat out the first half of the session as the track became quicker. Championship leader Bertrand Baguette (Draco) was the final of the A group runners to make superpole in sixth.
Group A: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1m46.176s 2. James Walker P1 1m46.232s + 0.056s 3. Guillaume Moreau SG 1m46.682s + 0.506s 4. Daniil Move P1 1m46.735s + 0.559s 5. Brendon Hartley Tech 1 1m46.928s + 0.752s 6. Marcos Martinez Pons 1m46.935s + 0.759s 7. John Martin Comtec 1m47.117s + 0.941s 8. Salvador Duran Interwetten 1m47.447s + 1.271s 9. Pasquale di Sabatino RC 1m47.939s + 1.763s 10. Chris van der Drift Epsilon Euskadi 1m48.077s + 1.901s 11. Anton Nebylitskiy SG 1m48.383s + 2.207s
Group B: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Fairuz Fauzy Fortec 1m45.598s 2. Jon Lancaster Comtec 1m45.804s + 0.206s 3. Charles Pic Tech 1 1m46.142s + 0.544s 4. Sten Pentus Fortec 1m46.318s + 0.720s 5. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin 1m46.327s + 0.729s 6. Bertrand Baguette Draco 1m46.641s + 1.043s 7. Federico Leo Pons 1m46.730s + 1.132s 8. Filip Salaquarda Prema 1m46.895s + 1.297s 9. Marco Barba Draco 1m46.905s + 1.307s 10. Keisuke Kunimoto Epsilon Euskadi 1m46.988s + 1.390s 11. Mihai Marinescu Interwetten 1m46.997s + 1.399s 12. Julian Leal Prema 1m47.914s + 2.316s
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