By alley - Mar 31, 2015, 4:01 PM ET

Vaxiviere keeps FR3.5 test advantage

Matthieu Vaxiviere remained in command at Aragon as the final pre-season Formula Renault 3.5 test concluded on Tuesday with a day reserved for running the series' low-downforce setup.

The Lotus protege recorded his fastest time of 1m40.662s during the morning session, to extend his run of quickest times to a third consecutive session after dominating Monday.

Dean Stoneman broke the Charouz-run driver's stranglehold on proceedings by setting the quickest time in a windy, and generally slower, afternoon session for reigning champion team DAMS. The Briton's time of 1m42.273s edged out Vaxiviere by 0.201 seconds.

"For sure it would have been good to continue my streak, but I was out of new tyres for the last session," said Vaxiviere, who was heighth in last year's FR3.5 standings. "To put in such a good time in the afternoon is all the same excellent.

"We've done a good job with the car, and everything went well this morning. Beyond that, testing remains relative, we now have to see how it goes in the races."

Tio Ellinas ended the day second overall for Strakka. The Cypriot, who set the pace at Jerez earlier this month, finished 0.421s in arrears of Vaxiviere.

Fortec's Oliver Rowland was third throughout the day and, despite brake gremlins and a preference for the higher downforce setup, was satisfied with his pre-season preparations.

Series returnee Beitske Visser temporarily set the second-fastest time in the afternoon, before her AVF machine was found to be underweight. However, Visser produced a competitive showing to take a confirmed fourth, ahead of Rowland's Fortec teammate Jazeman Jaafar and Stoneman.

Former GP3 title challenger Facu Regalia returned to action at Zeta Corse. The Argentinean had sat out the opening day of testing at Aragon, where his place was taken by the team's 2014 driver Roman Mavlanov.

Carlin was reduced to a single car for Tom Dillmann, owing to exam commitments in London for the team's second driver Sean Gelael.

Manor Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi was only 18th and 12th but remained upbeat, having conserved several sets of tires.

"We weren't aiming for laptimes and working in that direction today," said Merhi. "We used half the new tires available compared to the other teams and we have clear development plan for the season. We have to see whether it will pay off. Last year, I was also running at the back in testing, but fought for the title at the end of the year."

In the afternoon, several teams opted to forsake all-out attempts at flying laps in order to practice pit stops, including Lotus driver Meindert van Buuren and Draco's Bruno Bonafacio.

MORNING TIMES:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Matthieu Vaxiviere	Lotus	1m 40.662s	-	29
2	Tio Ellinas	Strakka Racing	1m 41.083s	0.421s	39
3	Oliver Rowland	Fortec Motorsports	1m 41.126s	0.464s	29
4	Beitske Visser	AVF	1m 41.245s	0.583s	21
5	Jazeman Jaafar	Fortec Motorsports	1m 41.254s	0.592s	32
6	Dean Stoneman	DAMS	1m 41.418s	0.756s	41
7	Tom Dillmann	Jagonya Ayam with Carlin	1m 41.479s	0.817s	41
8	Meindert van Buuren	Lotus	1m 41.505s	0.843s	32
9	Gustav Malja	Strakka Racing	1m 41.559s	0.897s	35
10	Pietro Fantin	International Draco Racing	1m 41.694s	1.032s	41
11	Nyck De Vries	DAMS	1m 41.723s	1.061s	31
12	Egor Orudzhev	Arden Motorsport	1m 41.870s	1.208s	48
13	Philo Paz Armand	Pons Racing	1m 42.395s	1.733s	39
14	Nicholas Latifi	Arden Motorsport	1m 42.544s	1.882s	44
15	Bruno Bonifacio	International Draco Racing	1m 42.676s	2.014s	44
16	Alfonso Celis	AVF	1m 42.766s	2.104s	33
17	Roy Nissany	Tech 1 Racing	1m 42.830s	2.168s	39
18	Roberto Merhi	Pons Racing	1m 42.939s	2.277s	28
19	Facu Regalia	Zeta Corse	1m 42.956s	2.294s	35
20	Aurelien Panis	Tech 1 Racing	1m 43.439s	2.777s	46

AFTERNOON TIMES:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Dean Stoneman	DAMS	1m 41.273s	-	18
2	Matthieu Vaxiviere	Lotus	1m 41.474s	0.201s	34
3	Oliver Rowland	Fortec Motorsports	1m 41.478s	0.205s	33
4	Jazeman Jaafar	Fortec Motorsports	1m 41.521s	0.248s	37
5	Nyck De Vries	DAMS	1m 41.534s	0.261s	28
6	Tom Dillmann	Jagonya Ayam with Carlin	1m 41.803s	0.530s	35
7	Nicholas Latifi	Arden Motorsport	1m 41.809s	0.536s	27
8	Pietro Fantin	International Draco Racing	1m 41.912s	0.639s	28
9	Facu Regalia	Zeta Corse	1m 41.996s	0.723s	39
10	Egor Orudzhev	Arden Motorsport	1m 42.028s	0.755s	40
11	Gustav Malja	Strakka Racing	1m 42.143s	0.870s	23
12	Roberto Merhi	Pons Racing	1m 42.151s	0.878s	29
13	Beitske Visser	AVF	1m 42.196s	0.923s	39
14	Tio Ellinas	Strakka Racing	1m 42.256s	0.983s	25
15	Meindert van Buuren	Lotus	1m 42.326s	1.053s	27
16	Alfonso Celis	AVF	1m 42.452s	1.179s	34
17	Bruno Bonifacio	International Draco Racing	1m 42.479s	1.206s	31
18	Roy Nissany	Tech 1 Racing	1m 42.491s	1.218s	42
19	Aurelien Panis	Tech 1 Racing	1m 42.840s	1.567s	41
20	Philo Paz Armand	Pons Racing	1m 42.898s	1.625s	29