Jaafar leads Jerez FR3.5 test

Jazeman Jaafar topped the opening day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Jerez on Monday.

The Malaysian driver led the way in the morning running, and his benchmark was not bettered in the afternoon session as series rookie Oliver Rowland fell just one tenth of a second short of going quickest overall.

Jaafar was not as much of a factor in the afternoon, which he put down to trying "something different" with the car set-up that did not work out.

Rowland, who has been a regular frontrunner in testing this winter with Fortec, set his best lap with just half an hour remaining in the day. He revealed that he went off the track on his final lap.

Fellow Formula Renault 2.0 graduate Pierre Gasly - last year's FR Eurocup champion - was another to miss out on a late improvement as a red flag in the closing minutes halted the Red Bull junior on a lap which he felt would have put him in the top five overall.

Will Stevens ended the day third-fastest with his best lap from the morning, while Rowland's closest challengers in the afternoon - Marlon Stockinger, Carlos Sainz Jr and Sergey Sirotkin - completed the top six for the day.

Only 23 of this season's 26 cars were in action at Jerez. Championship-winning team Carlin has sat out all of pre-season so far, while Comtec Racing only ran one car with Nikolay Martsenko.

COMBINED DAY ONE TIMES: