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Sainz reigns supreme on day one of Catalunya test

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
Carlos Sainz

Photo: GEPA pictures/ Dutch Photo Agency/ Sebastiaan Rozendaal

Red Bull Junior Team driver Carlos Sainz, Jr. was unmatched on the first day of the Formula Renault 3.5 post-season test at Catalunya, as he put his Pons Racing machine on top of the timesheets in both sessions.

In the morning run, the Spaniard narrowly bested the Arden Caterham of Nico Muller, with Strakka Racing regular Matias Laine coming in third. Sergey Sirotkin was fourth for his ISR squad, while William Buller rounded out the top five.

Raffaele Marciello was the quickest rookie in sixth, ahead of Daniil Move and Will Stevens. Pietro Fantin and Jann Mardenborough rounded out the top ten.

Sainz was also narrowly quicker than Muller in session two, while the top three was, again, completed by the ever-present Laine. Fantin took fourth ahead of Sirotkin and afternoon’s top rookie Oscar Tunjo.

Stevens, Marciello, Nikolay Martsenko and Oliver Rowland made up the rest of the top ten.

Session results
Pos. Driver Team Session 1 Session 2
1 Carlos Sainz, Jr. Pons Racing 1:29.652 1:30.502
2 Nico Muller Arden Caterham 1:29.704 1:30.606
3 Matias Laine Strakka Racing 1:29.966 1:31.031
4 Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1:30.056 1:31.130
5 William Buller Arden Caterham 1:30.182 1:31.456
6 Raffaele Marciello DAMS 1:30.247 1:31.185
7 Daniil Move ISR 1:30.254 1:32.489
8 Will Stevens Strakka Racing 1:30.329 1:31.155
9 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1:30.465 1:31.091
10 Jann Mardenborough Carlin 1:30.593 1:31.363
11 Nick Yelloly SMP Racing by Comtec 1:30.623 1:31.979
12 Marlon Stockinger DAMS 1:30.689 1:31.553
13 Stefano Coletti SMP Racing by Comtec 1:30.898 1:31.302
14 Pierre Gasly Tech 1 Racing 1:30.912 1:31.601
15 Luca Ghiotto Pons Racing 1:30.951 1:32.550
16 Riccardo Agostini Fortec Motorsports 1:31.093 1:31.608
17 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1:31.313 1:31.294
18 Vittorio Ghirelli AV Formula 1:31.374 1:31.634
19 Nikolay Martsenko Zeta Corse 1:31.630 1:31.265
20 William Vermont Tech 1 Racing 1:31.735 1:32.315
21 Jordan King Carlin 1:31.842 1:31.540
22 Oscar Tunjo Lotus 1:31.896 1:31.154
23 Lucas Foresti International Draco Racing 1:31.975 1:32.068
24 Alice Powell AV Formula 1:32.534 1:33.377
25 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1:32.618 1:31.495
26 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse 1:33.731 1:32.949

Quickest personal time in bold
Quickest time of session in italics