Jules Bianchi takes dominant maiden Formula Renault 3.5 pole at the Nurburgring
Jules Bianchi took his maiden Formula Renault 3.5 pole position in comfortable fashion ahead of first race of the weekend at the Nurburgring
The Ferrari junior driver was one of the first to improve after everybody rejoined the track on a second set of tyres in the closing stages. He had been sitting second behind Robin Frijns up to that point, but with four minutes remaining he went four tenths of a second clear of the Dutchman.
From there Bianchi (Tech 1) was untouchable, although Frijns did manage to improve his best by a tenth of a second in the final minute. The Fortec man was under no pressure either though, as he ended the session six tenths of a second ahead of the cars that will make up row two.
The best of the rest honour behind the dominant top two was DAMS' Arthur Pic, who was the only other driver to get within one second of Bianchi's pole time. Nico Muller, who topped Friday's wet second free practice session, will line up fourth for Draco.
Walter Grubmuller was on course for a second row berth before Pic and Muller popped up with late efforts, but the P1 driver still managed a top five, just ahead of Friday morning pacesetter Kevin Magnussen (Carlin).
Championship leader Sam Bird (ISR) ran as high as third in the closing stages, but he was eventually shuffled down to eighth, just behind Lotus driver Marco Sorensen.
Series returnee Cesar Ramos was an impressive ninth in the second Lotus entry, while new Red Bull junior Antonio Felix da Costa (Arden Caterham) lost out in a fight with ISR's Jake Rosenzweig for the final top 10 spot.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Jules Bianchi Tech 1 1m40.537s 2. Robin Frijns Fortec 1m40.915s + 0.378s 3. Arthur Pic DAMS 1m41.437s + 0.900s 4. Nico Muller Draco 1m41.555s + 1.018s 5. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m41.579s + 1.042s 6. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 1m41.592s + 1.055s 7. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m41.607s + 1.070s 8. Sam Bird ISR 1m41.608s + 1.071s 9. Cesar Ramos Lotus 1m41.612s + 1.075s 10. Jake Rosenzweig ISR 1m41.785s + 1.248s 11. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1m41.852s + 1.315s 12. Carlos Huertas Fortec 1m41.869s + 1.332s 13. Andre Negrao Draco 1m41.890s + 1.353s 14. Will Stevens Carlin 1m41.892s + 1.355s 15. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m42.097s + 1.560s 16. Lucas Foresti DAMS 1m42.136s + 1.599s 17. Anton Nebylitskiy RFR 1m42.261s + 1.724s 18. Mikhail Aleshin RFR 1m42.395s + 1.858s 19. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m42.406s + 1.869s 20. Alexander Rossi Arden Caterham 1m42.477s + 1.940s 21. Nick Yelloly Comtec 1m42.645s + 2.108s 22. Daniil Move P1 1m42.750s + 2.213s 23. Nikolay Martsenko BVM Target 1m43.092s + 2.555s 24. Yann Cunha Pons 1m43.185s + 2.648s 25. Giovanni Venturini BVM Target 1m43.336s + 2.799s 26. Vittorio Ghirelli Comtec 1m43.492s + 2.955s
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