Home News Rowland claims pole for FR3.5 race one at Hungaroring

Rowland claims pole for FR3.5 race one at Hungaroring

by Peter Allen
Oliver Rowland

Photo: Jean Michel Le Meur/DPPI

Oliver Rowland claimed his second pole position in Formula Renault 3.5 after coming out on top in the first qualifying session at the Hungaroring, as points leader Carlos Sainz found himself marooned down in 14th by a late red flag.

Rowland went a second clear of the field in the closing stages, and that lap was good enough to keep him on top even as others improved, until an early end to the session triggered when Marco Sorensen went off.

Rowland’s long-time rival Pierre Gasly got nearest to him, closing to within 0.153 seconds of the Briton. Four Frenchmen will fill the top six places on the grid, with Norman Nato and Matthieu Vaxiviere sharing row two, and series debutant Esteban Ocon claiming sixth alongside Will Stevens.

Championship P2 driver Roberto Merhi was seventh, ahead of Sorensen, Oscar Tunjo and Matias Laine.

Sainz got himself up into third place inside the last few minutes, but with most drivers improving on every lap, he was shuffled down to 14th by the time the red flag came out. He had set a personal best sector on his last lap, but would be unable to complete it.

Sergey Sirotkin triggered another red flag early on, and will have to start from 23rd and last.

Qualifying results
Pos Driver? Team Time? Gap Laps?
1 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1:30.203 16
2 Pierre Gasly Arden Motorsport 1:30.356 0.153 15
3 Norman Nato DAMS 1:30.401 0.198 15
4 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1:30.531 0.328 14
5 Will Stevens Strakka Racing 1:30.602 0.399 14
6 Esteban Ocon Comtec Racing 1:30.722 0.519 15
7 Roberto Merhi Zeta Corse 1:30.783 0.580 13
8 Marco Sorensen Tech 1 Racing 1:30.937 0.734 12
9 Oscar Tunjo Pons Racing 1:31.006 0.803 13
10 Matias Laine Strakka Racing 1:31.263 1.060 14
11 Jazeman Jaafar ISR 1:31.334 1.131 14
12 Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1:31.385 1.182 14
13 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1:31.476 1.273 15
14 Carlos Sainz DAMS 1:31.648 1.445 14
15 Cameron Twynham Comtec Racing 1:31.920 1.717 15
16 Meindert van Buuren Pons Racing 1:32.070 1.867 14
17 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse 1:32.172 1.969 14
18 Beitske Visser AVF 1:32.644 2.441 17
19 Zoel Amberg AVF 1:32.911 2.708 7
20 Nicholas Latifi Tech 1 Racing 1:34.146 3.943 7
21 Luca Ghiotto International Draco Racing 1:39.702 9.499 6
22 William Buller Arden Motorsport 1:39.859 9.656 2
23 Sergey Sirotkin Fortec Motorsports 1:41.696 11.493 2