Home News Sainz steals Nurburgring race one pole from Rowland

Sainz steals Nurburgring race one pole from Rowland

by Peter Allen
Carlos Sainz

Photo: GEPA pictures/Dutch Photo Agency/ Diederik van der Laan

Formula Renault 3.5 championship leader Carlos Sainz stepped up when it mattered most to claim a last-gasp pole for race one at the Nurburgring from under the noses of Fortec drivers Oliver Rowland and Sergey Sirotkin.

Continuous improvements meant that Sirotkin and Rowland led much of the session, which was delayed by thick fog by just over an hour and shortened from 30 to 25 minutes.

Sirotkin led as the cars returned to the track in the final ten minutes for their final efforts, and although the Russian was able to improve his time he was bettered by team-mate Rowland.

Sainz sat in sixth at this stage but was able to get one final quick lap in which put him 0.025 seconds ahead of Rowland and was enough to claim his sixth pole of the year.

Practice pace-setter Roberto Merhi claimed fourth place, within a tenth of fellow Spaniard Sainz. Row three will consist of Marlon Stockinger and Matias Laine.

Oscar Tunjo and Pietro Fantin both took turns in P1 inside the final three minutes before falling back to seventh and eighth, with Luca Ghiotto and Zoel Amberg completing the top ten – the latter setting exactly the same time as AVF team-mate Beitske Visser.

Will Stevens could only manage 12th, while Pierre Gasly (currently second to Sainz in the points) ended up back in 17th at the end of the session after failing to improve on his second run.

Qualifying results
Pos Driver? Team Time? Gap? Laps?
1 Carlos Sainz DAMS 1:40.820 11
2 Oliver Rowland Fortec Motorsports 1:40.845 0.025 11
3 Sergey Sirotkin Fortec Motorsports 1:40.862 0.042 11
4 Roberto Merhi Zeta Corse 1:40.902 0.082 11
5 Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1:40.921 0.101 14
6 Matias Laine Strakka Racing 1:41.033 0.213 12
7 Oscar Tunjo Pons Racing 1:41.142 0.322 12
8 Pietro Fantin International Draco Racing 1:41.254 0.434 12
9 Luca Ghiotto International Draco Racing 1:41.366 0.546 12
10 Zoel Amberg AVF 1:41.367 0.547 12
11 Beitske Visser AVF 1:41.367 0.547 14
12 Will Stevens Strakka Racing 1:41.448 0.628 12
13 William Buller Arden Motorsport 1:41.469 0.649 12
14 Marco Sorensen Tech 1 Racing 1:41.531 0.711 11
15 Norman Nato DAMS 1:41.573 0.753 11
16 Meindert van Buuren Pons Racing 1:41.628 0.808 12
17 Pierre Gasly Arden Motorsport 1:41.676 0.856 10
18 Matthieu Vaxiviere Lotus 1:41.788 0.968 13
19 Roman Mavlanov Zeta Corse 1:41.864 1.044 12
20 Jazeman Jaafar ISR 1:42.308 1.488 12
21 Alfonso Celis Tech 1 Racing 1:42.676 1.856 11
22 Cameron Twynham Comtec Racing 1:42.815 1.995 12