French drivers topped both collective test sessions at Jerez as the final Formula Renault 3.5 Series event began in Spain.
Matthieu Vaxiviere was fastest in the opening session, with the Lotus driver setting the best time of the day with a 1:28.823s, the only driver underneath 1:29s.
William Buller was second for Arden Motorsport ahead of Strakka Racing’s Matias Lainé, while Pierre Gasly of Arden Motorsport was fourth. Sergey Sirotkin of Fortec Motorsports and Pietro Fantin of International Draco Racing were fifth and sixth after setting an identical lap time of 1:29.282s.
Meindert van Buuren was seventh for Pons Racing ahead of the second Lotus of Marlon Stockinger, while championship favourite Carlos Sainz Jr was ninth for DAMS ahead of Oliver Rowland of Fortec Motorsports in tenth.
The second session saw Gasly hit top spot with a lap time of 1:29.652s, which was 0.021s ahead of fellow Red Bull Junior driver Sainz Jr. Jazeman Jaafar was third quickest for ISR Racing, ahead of Will Stevens of Strakka Racing.
Buller was fifth ahead of Oscar Tunjo of Pons Racing and Rowland, while Norman Nato was eighth for DAMS. Marco Sorensen, fresh off his maiden GP2 Series victory last weekend, was ninth for Tech 1 Racing with Fantin completing the top ten.
Roberto Merhi, who remains with a remote chance of taking the title, had a nightmare Friday, with the Zeta Corse driver, who needs two wins to have any chance of the title, twenty-first and last in the first session and only nineteenth in the second.
Jerez Collective Test Session 1 Times
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | FRA | Lotus | 1:28.823 |
| 2 | William Buller | GBR | Arden Motorsport | 1:29.018 |
| 3 | Matias Lainé | FIN | Strakka Racing | 1:29.109 |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Arden Motorsport | 1:29.142 |
| 5 | Sergey Sirotkin | RUS | Fortec Motorsports | 1:29.282 |
| 6 | Pietro Fantin | BRZ | International Draco Racing | 1:29.282 |
| 7 | Meindert van Buuren | NED | Pons Racing | 1:29.295 |
| 8 | Marlon Stockinger | PHI | Lotus | 1:29.306 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jr | ESP | DAMS | 1:29.466 |
| 10 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Fortec Motorsports | 1:29.635 |
| 11 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Tech 1 Racing | 1:29.717 |
| 12 | Norman Nato | FRA | DAMS | 1:29.771 |
| 13 | Jazeman Jaafar | MAL | ISR | 1:29.810 |
| 14 | Will Stevens | GBR | Strakka Racing | 1:29.968 |
| 15 | Beitske Visser | NED | AV Formula | 1:29.969 |
| 16 | Marco Sorensen | DEN | Tech 1 Racing | 1:30.028 |
| 17 | Luca Ghiotto | ITA | International Draco Racing | 1:30.074 |
| 18 | Zoel Amberg | SWI | AV Formula | 1:30.215 |
| 19 | Oscar Tunjo | COL | Pons Racing | 1:30.499 |
| 20 | Roman Mavlanov | RUS | Zeta Corse | 1:30.847 |
| 21 | Roberto Merhi | ESP | Zeta Corse | 1:31.377 |
Jerez Collective Test Session 2 Times
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Arden Motorsport | 1:29.652 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jr | ESP | DAMS | 1:29.673 |
| 3 | Jazeman Jaafar | MAL | ISR | 1:29.978 |
| 4 | Will Stevens | GBR | Strakka Racing | 1:30.046 |
| 5 | William Buller | GBR | Arden Motorsport | 1:30.109 |
| 6 | Oscar Tunjo | COL | Pons Racing | 1:30.120 |
| 7 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Fortec Motorsports | 1:30.162 |
| 8 | Norman Nato | FRA | DAMS | 1:30.184 |
| 9 | Marco Sorensen | DEN | Tech 1 Racing | 1:30.324 |
| 10 | Pietro Fantin | BRZ | International Draco Racing | 1:30.415 |
| 11 | Beitske Visser | NED | AV Formula | 1:30.530 |
| 12 | Zoel Amberg | SWI | AV Formula | 1:30.627 |
| 13 | Marlon Stockinger | PHI | Lotus | 1:30.629 |
| 14 | Meindert van Buuren | NED | Pons Racing | 1:30.643 |
| 15 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Tech 1 Racing | 1:30.667 |
| 16 | Sergey Sirotkin | RUS | Fortec Motorsports | 1:30.672 |
| 17 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | FRA | Lotus | 1:30.847 |
| 18 | Luca Ghiotto | ITA | International Draco Racing | 1:30.864 |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | ESP | Zeta Corse | 1:30.996 |
| 20 | Matias Lainé | FIN | Strakka Racing | 1:31.194 |
| 21 | Roman Mavlanov | RUS | Zeta Corse | 1:31.211 |
