Photo: Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI / Renault Sport Media
Fortec’s Sergey Sirotkin impressed the home crowds at Moscow Raceway by taking his first pole position in the Formula Renault 3.5 series.
Sirotkin, who currently sits 12th in the standings after a rough start to the season, was two tenths clear of his rivals.
AVF’s Zoel Amberg led the field at the 30-minute session’s halfway point, but was dethroned by Sirotkin in the final six minutes. The Russian set a sub 1:21 lap with his first attempt on new tyres, which proved good enough for pole as the allotted time expired.
Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly will join Sirotkin on the front row, having managed to vault himself into second under the checkered flag.
Roberto Merhi qualified third, but will start seventh due to a four-place grid penalty. As such, Amberg inherited third place, while Draco’s Pietro Fantin is set to be promoted to the second row alongside him.
Oliver Rowland will start fifth, leading Jazeman Jaafar. Behind Merhi, Oscar Tunjo broke into the top ten in his third qualifying, while Will Stevens and Richie Stanaway made up the fifth row.
Teams’ championship leaders DAMS had a dreadful session, with points leader Carlos Sainz qualifying in 16th and his teammate Norman Nato – in 19th.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Sergey Sirotkin | Fortec Motorsports | 1:20.992 | 15 | |
| 2 | Pierre Gasly | Arden Motorsport | 1:21.211 | 0.219 | 16 |
| 3 | Zoel Amberg | AVF | 1:21.269 | 0.277 | 15 |
| 4 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1:21.304 | 0.312 | 16 |
| 5 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1:21.372 | 0.380 | 15 |
| 6 | Jazeman Jaafar | ISR | 1:21.487 | 0.495 | 15 |
| 7* | Roberto Merhi | Zeta Corse | 1:21.223 | 0.231 | 14 |
| 8 | Oscar Tunjo | Pons Racing | 1:21.510 | 0.518 | 15 |
| 9 | Will Stevens | Strakka Racing | 1:21.519 | 0.527 | 16 |
| 10 | Richie Stanaway | Lotus | 1:21.709 | 0.717 | 13 |
| 11 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:21.761 | 0.769 | 15 |
| 12 | Matias Laine | Strakka Racing | 1:21.779 | 0.787 | 16 |
| 13 | William Buller | Arden Motorsport | 1:21.834 | 0.842 | 15 |
| 14 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1:21.863 | 0.871 | 15 |
| 15 | Meindert van Buuren | Pons Racing | 1:21.888 | 0.896 | 14 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | DAMS | 1:21.895 | 0.903 | 15 |
| 17 | Luca Ghiotto | International Draco Racing | 1:21.992 | 1.000 | 15 |
| 18 | Marco Sorensen | Tech 1 Racing | 1:22.088 | 1.096 | 15 |
| 19 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:22.104 | 1.112 | 17 |
| 20 | Roman Mavlanov | Zeta Corse | 1:22.276 | 1.284 | 18 |
* – grid drop of four places