Home News Matthieu Vaxiviere tops opening session of Aragon FR3.5 test

Matthieu Vaxiviere tops opening session of Aragon FR3.5 test

by Peter Allen
Matthieu Vaxiviere

Photo: Alvaro Rivero/DPPI

The second and final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test got underway in Aragon with Matthieu Vaxiviere setting the best time of the morning session.

The French Lotus driver went to the top of the standings in the closing stages with a lap of 1m41.331s.

Carlin’s Tom Dillmann had led for some time up to that point but found himself shuffled down to P4 behind the Fortec pairing of Jazeman Jaafar and Oliver Rowland. Split by just three thousandths of a second, both were just over two tenths adrift of Vaxiviere.

Strakka drivers Gustav Malja and Tio Ellinas were fifth and seventh respectively, sandwiching DAMS Red Bull Junior Dean Stoneman.

Beitske Visser was eighth for AVF ahead of fellow Dutch racer Nyck de Vries in the second DAMS entry, putting himself ninth with his final effort. Draco’s Pietro Fantin completed the top ten.

11th-fastest Egor Orudzhev (Arden) triggered a red flag in the final half hour.

Roberto Merhi made it on to the track for Pons before the end of the session, having flown straight from Sepang after completing his Formula 1 debut on Sunday.

Comtec Racing continue to be absent, while Zeta Corse are only fielding one car with their 2014 driver Roman Mavlanov behind the wheel rather than their announced race driver Facu Regalia.

Morning session results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1:41.331 36
2 Jazeman Jaafar Fortec Motorsports 1:41.559 0.228 37
3 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1:41.562 0.231 45
4 Tom Dillmann Carlin 1:41.698 0.367 37
5 Gustav Malja Strakka Racing 1:41.771 0.440 36
6 Dean Stoneman DAMS 1:41.871 0.540 37
7 Tio Ellinas Strakka Racing 1:41.883 0.552 45
8 Beitske Visser AVF 1:41.935 0.604 30
9 Nyck de Vries DAMS 1:42.031 0.700 36
10 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1:42.119 0.788 35
11 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport 1:42.179 0.848 39
12 Meindert van Buuren Lotus 1:43.993 2.662 47
13 Alfonso Celis AVF 1:43.040 1.709 32
14 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse 1:43.441 2.110 14
15 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing 1:43.529 2.198 52
16 Nicholas Latifi Arden Motorsport 1:43.625 2.294 21
17 Roberto Merhi Pons Racing 1:43.754 2.423 19
18 Sean Gelael Carlin 1:43.855 2.524 37
19 Roy Nissany Tech 1 Racing 1:43.857 2.526 43
20 Bruno Bonifacio International Draco Racing 1:44.247 2.916 22
21 Philo Paz Armand Pons Racing 1:44.459 3.128 34