Rowland wins FR3.5 season opener

Oliver Rowland survived a first corner scare to kick off the Formula Renault 3.5 season with victory at Aragon. Jazeman Jaafar completed a Fortec one-two, finishing 2.1 seconds in arrears, ahead of top rookie Dean Stoneman.

Improving Dutch racer Meindert van Buuren took the checkered flag first, having led throughout on the road, but the Lotus driver was penalised 20s for a jump start. Having made the error from his third place grid slot, van Buuren was committed to staging an attack into Turn 1.

The aggressive charge between polesitter and teammate Matthieu Vaxiviere on the outside and Rowland on the apex produced a perilously-close three-wide dice. Van Buuren exited the corner in the lead, while a compromised Vaxiviere dropped to fifth place on the road, behind Jaafar and Stoneman.

"When I saw [van Buuren] coming, I thought, 'Jeez, there's going to be an accident,'" said Rowland, who dedicated the victory to his ex-Formula 1 racer mentor Derek Warwick. "I knew Vaxiviere was very close on the outside, although I couldn't see exactly where he was.

"I put it into first gear on the apex, otherwise I thought we'd crash. I asked the team if he'd made a jump start, because it was a bit suspect, and they confirmed they thought he had. After that I was happy to let him go, as I wanted to conserve my tires a bit."

GP3 runner-up Stoneman came under pressure from recovering Lotus F1 Junior Vaxiviere over the early laps, before picking up his pace to head the Frenchman home for third by 2.3s.

"It has been difficult missing testing at the end of last season," said Stoneman, who fills the shoes of reigning FR3.5 champion Carlos Sainz Jr. at DAMS. "But the team have been superb, and although we've been up and down I am confident that things are looking better."

Van Buuren had established a 4.3s lead on lap 10, and despite suffering a drop-off in pace over the closing laps salvaged a respectable fifth place when the penalty was applied. The result is the second time in his international career that van Buuren has lost an on-the-road win, after being penalised for running over a white line exiting a pit stop at a Mugello Auto GP meeting in 2013.

10th-place starter Pietro Fantin delivered a solid run to sixth, the Brazilian doing well to steer clear of trouble during a frenetic first lap.

AVF's Beitske Visser was first to hit difficulties, pitting at the end of the formation lap with her car stuck in first gear. Philo Paz Patrick Armand was stranded on the line as the field set off for the start, before the real dramas began with a number of clashes on the opening tour.

Both Tech 1 cars and the Carlin entry of Sean Gelael were involved in an incident at Turn 5, and on the exit of the corner sixth-qualifier Tom Dillmann appeared to make contact with Tio Ellinas. The Cypriot was a first-lap retiree, while a delayed Dillmann produced a feisty recovery to ninth.

Manor F1 driver Roberto Merhi completed the first lap in 10th, but lost a front wing endplate in the early scrapping. A queue of cars accumulated behind the Pons racer, who after enduring a number of lock-ups and dropping down the order called it a day four laps from home.

RESULTS - 24 LAPS:

Originally on Autosport.com