FR3.5: Merhi leads Nurburgring practice

Roberto Merhi led the way in Formula Renault 3.5 free practice at the Nurburgring, two weeks on from taking his first win in the category at Moscow Raceway.

The former Mercedes DTM racer, who dominated the second race in Russia for Zeta Corse, shot to the top of the times at the end of the day's running, where he was one of the last cars to take the chechered flag.

His late effort demoted 2013 Formula Renault Eurocup champion Pierre Gasly,who had moved to the front with three minutes to go, to second as the majority of the field improved in the closing stages in preparation for Saturday morning's first qualifying session.

Shortly after Gasly had gone fastest, his 2013 FR2.0 rival Oliver Rowland slotted in behind him, but the two Eurocup graduates were split by championship leader Carlos Sainz Jr. and Gasly's Arden teammate Will Buller, who ended the session third and fourth respectively.

Will Stevens, who remains an outside threat in the title race, was sixth fastest, coming to Germany after testing for the Caterham Formula 1 team earlier this week at Silverstone.

Before the session came alive in the final four minutes, Sauber F1 test driver Sergey Sirotkin's benchmark from first practice remained the quickest time of the day. The Russian, who was not a part of the late action in session two, was comfortably quickest earlier in the day, leading Fortec teammate Rowland by three tenths of a second, while third-fastest Marco Sorensen was half a second adrift.