Round five of the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series has begun at the Moscow Raceway in Russia, and has seen Briton Will Stevens and Russian Sergey Sirotkin top the collective test sessions.
Stevens of Strakka Racing was fastest in the first session with a best lap time of 1:21.961s, finishing ahead of New Zealander Richie Stanaway of Lotus. Norman Nato and Carlos Sainz Jr were third and fourth respectively for DAMS, with Pierre Gasly fifth for Arden Motorsport.
Sirotkin was sixth for Fortec Motorsports ahead of his team-mate Oliver Rowland, while Pietro Fantin was the leading International Draco Racing driver in eighth. Stevens’ Strakka team-mate Matias Lainé was ninth with Roberto Merhi tenth for Zeta Corse.
The second session was considerably faster than the first as the track rubbered in, and it was Sirotkin who ended the session on top with a best lap time of 1:20.723s. Zoel Amberg of AV Formula was second ahead of Merhi in third, with Nato and Stanaway finishing in the top five.
Stevens slipped to sixth despite being more than four tenths of a second faster than his morning time, with fellow Briton Rowland in seventh. William Buller was the leading Arden Motorsport driver in the afternoon session in eighth, with Lainé and Jazeman Jaafar of ISR completing the top ten.
Qualifying for race one takes place Saturday morning, with the race to follow later that afternoon.
Moscow Raceway Combined Practice Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Sergey Sirotkin | RUS | Fortec Motorsports | 1:20.723 |
2 | Zoel Amberg | SWI | AV Formula | 1:21.239 |
3 | Roberto Merhi | ESP | Zeta Corse | 1:21.295 |
4 | Norman Nato | FRA | DAMS | 1:21.321 |
5 | Richie Stanaway | NZL | Lotus | 1:21.387 |
6 | Will Stevens | GBR | Strakka Racing | 1:21.515 |
7 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Fortec Motorsports | 1:21.570 |
8 | William Buller | GBR | Arden Motorsport | 1:21.677 |
9 | Matias Lainé | FIN | Strakka Racing | 1:21.756 |
10 | Jazeman Jaafar | MAL | ISR | 1:21.784 |
11 | Marlon Stockinger | PHI | Lotus | 1:21.957 |
12 | Carlos Sainz Jr | ESP | DAMS | 1:21.970 |
13 | Oscar Tunjo | COL | Pons Racing | 1:21.976 |
14 | Pietro Fantin | BRZ | International Draco Racing | 1:21.996 |
15 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Arden Motorsport | 1:22.066 |
16 | Meindert van Buuren | NED | Pons Racing | 1:22.472 |
17 | Beitske Visser | NED | AV Formula | 1:22.479 |
18 | Roman Mavlanov | RUS | Zeta Corse | 1:22.730 |
19 | Marco Sorensen | DEN | Tech 1 Racing | 1:22.736 |
20 | Luca Ghiotto | ITA | International Draco Racing | 1:22.788 |