Rowland leads Monaco FR3.5 practice

Championship leader Oliver Rowland led a Fortec one-two in Formula Renault 3.5 practice in Monaco on Friday morning.

Times fell throughout the 45-minute session, and Briton Rowland's fastest effort of 1m24.171s was recorded with just a minute left on the clock. Teammate Jazeman Jaafar – a podium finisher at this race for the past two years – claimed second spot, just 0.088 seconds adrift.

Lotus Formula 1 Junior driver Matthieu Vaxiviere survived two hairy moments at Sainte Devote to end the morning in third.

Strakka Racing's Tio Ellinas briefly headed the timing screens entering the final four minutes of action, before being demoted to fourth.

Boasting much Monaco experience from his long stint in GP2, Tom Dillmann unsurprisingly also appeared in contention for honours this weekend. But the Carlin driver abandoned his final flying lap when he grazed the armco with his right-rear wheel at the quick right-hander at Tabac.

While Dillmann escaped his moment without major consequences, Brazilian Pietro Fantin in sixth concluded his running in the barriers at Sainte Devote. The Draco driver is chasing the Brazilian-owned, Italian-based, team's first victory since Audi DTM racer Nico Muller's success in the Principality in 2013.

Fantin was not alone in encountering trouble. Vaxiviere somehow avoided damage when he executed a half-spin on the exit of Sainte Devote 20 minutes into the session. The Frenchman's luck ran out with five minutes to go when he skidded straight off at the same spot, gently tapping the tires.

The session was red-flagged after 20 minutes when Indonesian rookie Sean Gelael's Carlin machine stopped in the tunnel. Gelael had earlier found the tire wall at the Mirabeau when moving off-line at low-speed to allow Jaafar to pass.

The final incident of the day came when Alfonso Celis Jr. suffered a high-speed slide at Massanet, concluding with the Mexican parked backwards on the entry to Casino Square.

Unlike regular World Series by Renault events, there will be no second FR3.5 practice session. Qualifying is set to start at 9 a.m. local time on Saturday morning, and will feature split A and B group sessions.