Barcelona FR3.5: Kevin Magnussen fastest in practice at finale
Kevin Magnussen made the perfect start to the final Formula Renault 3.5 weekend of the season by topping both free practice sessions comfortably at Barcelona
The McLaren junior, who comes into this weekend with a 43-point lead over Stoffel Vandoorne in the championship with only 50 points still to play for, led the morning session by nearly seven tenths of a second.
While he was unable to quite match his morning time in the afternoon session, DAMS driver Magnussen was still clear of the chasing pack, with only Will Stevens (P1/Strakka) and Vandoorne (Fortec) getting within half a second of his time.
Stevens briefly appeared to have got the better of Magnussen in a late flurry of activity in the afternoon, and initially the Dane could only get back ahead by less than one tenth of a second.
But as the chequered flag came out and most drivers either returned to the pits or failed to improve, Magnussen found nearly another two tenths to give himself another comfortable margin over his pursuers.
Stevens, who was a championship outsider earlier in the season, hung onto second ahead of Vandoorne, while Red Bull junior Antonio Felix da Costa and Arthur Pic completed the top five.
In the morning session, Sauber 2014 Formula 1 prospect Sergey Sirotkin was best of the rest behind Magnussen, whose team-mate Norman Nato took third ahead of Vandoorne and Stevens.
Only 25 cars were in action during Friday's running, as Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar was taken to hospital to receive treatment for an infection.
FR3.5 TITLE PERMUTATIONS
Current standings: Magnussen 224, Vandoorne 181
Only Magnussen can win the title in race one:
If Vandoorne wins, Magnussen needs to be sixth or higher
If Vandoorne is second, Magnussen needs to be 10th or higher
Practice one: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1m30.730s 2. Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1m31.398s +0.668s 3. Norman Nato DAMS 1m31.621s +0.891s 4. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 1m31.626s +0.896s 5. Will Stevens P1/Strakka 1m31.661s +0.931s 6. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m31.684s +0.954s 7. Arthur Pic AV 1m31.691s +0.961s 8. Andre Negrao Draco 1m31.708s +0.978s 9. Nikolay Martsenko Pons 1m31.928s +1.198s 10. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m31.933s +1.203s 11. Nigel Melker Tech 1 1m31.951s +1.221s 12. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1m31.968s +1.238s 13. Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 1m32.059s +1.329s 14. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1m32.153s +1.423s 15. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m32.186s +1.456s 16. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1m32.206s +1.476s 17. Matias Laine P1/Strakka 1m32.250s +1.520s 18. Carlos Sainz Jr Zeta 1m32.303s +1.573s 19. Oliver Webb Fortec 1m32.322s +1.592s 20. Nico Muller Draco 1m32.340s +1.610s 21. Christopher Zanella ISR 1m32.405s +1.675s 22. Will Buller Zeta 1m32.610s +1.880s 23. Lucas Foresti SMP/Comtec 1m32.635s +1.905s 24. Yann Cunha AV 1m33.406s +2.676s 25. Daniil Move SMP/Comtec 1m33.554s +2.824s Practice two: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1m30.877s 2. Will Stevens P1/Strakka 1m31.143s +0.266s 3. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 1m31.479s +0.602s 4. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1m31.571s +0.694s 5. Arthur Pic AV 1m31.615s +0.738s 6. Christopher Zanella ISR 1m31.689s +0.812s 7. Norman Nato DAMS 1m31.804s +0.927s 8. Nico Muller Draco 1m31.816s +0.939s 9. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1m31.857s +0.980s 10. Nigel Melker Tech 1 1m31.860s +0.983s 11. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m31.876s +0.999s 12. Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1m31.925s +1.048s 13. Daniil Move SMP/Comtec 1m31.964s +1.087s 14. Carlos Sainz Jr Zeta 1m31.984s +1.107s 15. Matias Laine P1/Strakka 1m32.015s +1.138s 16. Oliver Webb Fortec 1m32.045s +1.168s 17. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1m32.117s +1.240s 18. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m32.153s +1.276s 19. Andre Negrao Draco 1m32.260s +1.383s 20. Will Buller Zeta 1m32.310s +1.433s 21. Lucas Foresti SMP/Comtec 1m32.640s +1.763s 22. Nikolay Martsenko Pons 1m32.785s +1.908s 23. Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1m32.798s +1.921s 24. Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 1m33.010s +2.133s 25. Yann Cunha AV 1m36.164s +5.287s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments