FR3.5: Rowland denies Ellinas Spa pole

Fortec's Oliver Rowland waited until his final lap before snatching pole position from Tio Ellinas for the second race of the Spa-Francorchamps Formula Renault 3.5 weekend.

Racing Steps-backed racer Rowland edged out Strakka driver Ellinas by 0.062 seconds, thanks to a fastest time of 1m59.092s – set after the checkered flag had appeared.

Reigning Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion Nyck de Vries held provisional pole with two minutes left on the clocks, but the Dutchman was demoted to third, one place ahead of Rowland's Fortec team-mate and championship leader Jazeman Jaafar.

Race one winner Matthieu Vaxiviere heads the third row after finishing the session 0.028s clear of Red Bull junior Dean Stoneman.

A third of the way into the half-hour session, Indonesian rookie Philo Paz Armand crashed at Stavelot, sustaining a heavy left-rear impact to his Pons car and bringing out the red flags.

At the time of the incident, Fortec twins Rowland and Jaafar were separated by just 0.015s in first and second positions, with Beitske Visser third.

Dutch racer Visser had elected not to drive in Saturday's race after a problem with her AVF car's floor in post-qualifying technical checks relegated her from second to last on the grid. On her second run on new tires in qualifying two, Visser was unable to reproduce her strong earlier form and will start 14th.

Tech 1 driver Roy Nissany brought out the yellows at the conclusion of the session when he crashed at Pouhon, wedging the front of his car underneath the tire barriers. After a concerning delay, with a medical car and marshals in attendance, Nissany appeared to extract himself from the cockpit unaided.

Teams have an open choice of downforce settings for Sunday races this season, in contrast to the mandatory low-downforce configuration used in race one on Saturdays, which has caused controversy this weekend.

QUALIFYING TIMES:

Originally on Autosport.com