Jaafar claims Monaco FR3.5 pole

Jazeman Jaafar will start Sunday's Formula Renault 3.5 round in Monaco from pole position. The Malaysian, who has finished on the podium in Monaco in both his previous visits, commanded qualifying to record a quickest lap of 1m23.425s.

In a split session, divided into two groups allocated 25 minutes each, Fortec achieved a lock-out of the front row of the grid. Friday practice pacesetter and championship leader Oliver Rowland dominated the earlier A Group qualifying so takes second place. Aragon race winner Matthieu Vaxiviere settled down after an eventful Friday, ending the morning 0.402 seconds adrift of Jaafar and second fastest in the quicker B group.

The Frenchman will be joined on the second row by Strakka's Tio Ellinas, while Dean Stoneman survived a run-in with the guardrail at Sainte Devote to take fifth ahead of Pietro Fantin.

The A group drivers were dealt slower tracker conditions by running first and their session was interrupted by a hefty shunt for Indonesian rookie Philo Paz Patric Armand at the Swimming Pool.

The Formula Renault 2.0 graduate had clipped the inside barrier on the left-hand approach to the complex, sending his machine across the road into the guardrail on the right-hand apex, which destroyed the right-side of his Pons machine. Armand then speared backward into the guardrail on the exit of the Swimming Pool, coming to rest in a shower of foam and debris. More than a dozen marshals were put to work with cement dust and brushes to clear up the accident scene, but oil flags were required when the session resumed.

Rowland subsequently improved to a provisional pole time of 1m24.370s, as behind Ellinas produced a lap of 1m25.267s to jump Fantin to second in the group.

The B group session came alive just past the mid-way point, with Jaafar occupying the head of the timing screens. GP3 runner-up Stoneman moved into second, only to lock up at Sainte Devote and smack the barriers. The Briton was able to dive into the escape road and execute a spin turn, allowing him to rejoin with minimal delay and no visible damage.

Simultaneously, Roy Nissany lost control at Masssent, shredding a Casino de Monte Carlo trackside banner and incurring substantial rear-end damage. The Tech 1 racer then dispersed various large parts of bodywork and rear wing along the track as he returned to the pits for attention.

Many drivers opted to pit at this time, but GP2 refugee Tom Dillmann stayed out and enjoyed a traffic free road to briefly move into second before being bumped down the order by Vaxiviere and Stoneman.

Originally on Autosport.com