Sainz recovers with dominant pole

Carlos Sainz Jr bounced back from a disappointing Formula Renault 3.5 season-opener at Monza to take a dominant pole position for race two on Sunday.

The Spaniard, whose DAMS car had to be pushed off the grid in race one with an electrical problem when he was supposed to start from pole, moved to the top of the times with five minutes remaining.

From then on he never appeared under threat, finishing the session with a margin of seven tenths of a second over his nearest challenger.

That honour went to Lotus junior driver Marlon Stockinger, who bumped Jazeman Jaafar off the front row as the chequered flag came out.

Will Buller had to settle for fourth after making a mistake at the first chicane on his final lap, and behind him Pietro Fantin and Sauber Formula 1 reserve Sergey Sirotkin completed the third row.

Sirotkin and Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland appeared to have recovered from a difficult Saturday as both were contenders for provisional pole during the first runs of the session.

However, neither appeared to get a particularly clear lap on their second set of tyres, with Rowland plummeting to 15th by the end of the session.

He will line up just behind race one winner and championship leader Will Stevens, who had a similarly tricky session and could only manage 14th on the grid.

Originally on Autosport.com