FR3.5: Vaxiviere grabs pole ahead of Merhi

Matthieu Vaxiviere emerged on top in a tumultuous, rain disturbed, Formula Renault 3.5 qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring to earn his fourth pole position of the season.

Intermittent showers threatened to create a topsy-turvy grid, although the weather never worsened to the extent of requiring drivers to use full wets. Lotus Formula 1 junior driver Vaxiviere's final flying lap on a slightly drying track propelled the Frenchman ahead of chief title rival Oliver Rowland into the pole slot for the second race of the weekend on Sunday.

Manor F1 driver Roberto Merhi also executed a final lap flyer, bumping Rowland down to third spot, and taking his highest grid position of the season.

Race one pole winner Rowland endured a spectrum of emotions during the session, including a low of plunging into a gravel bed and, after a remarkable comeback, briefly holding provisional pole. The Fortec racer had failed to record a quick lap before the first rain spell, and languished in 17th position when the red flags appeared shortly before the mid-way point of the half-hour session.

On the restart, an under-pressure Rowland was caught out on slicks during a localized downpour and skated into the gravel at Turn 6, apparently ending his participation in qualifying. But the Fortec driver miraculously extricated himself from the gravel bed, and superbly composed himself to move into pole on his final lap after the checkered flag had flown, though Vaxiviere and Merhi subsequently demoted him.

McLaren protege Nyck de Vries will join Rowland on the second row of Sunday's second race, while Tech 1 rookie Roy Nissany achieved his best qualifying effort of the year in fifth.

Status GP2 driver Marlon Stockinger, making a guest FR3.5 appearance at his former team Lotus, followed up his race one front row position by completing the top six, one place ahead of the car's former incumbent Meindert van Buuren, now at Pons.

Alfonso Celis Jr. will line up in seventh, but the AVF driver's team-mate Beitske Visser was hit by a technical issue shortly after the pitlane exit. The recovery of the Dutch racer's stranded machine brought about the mid-session stoppage.

Arden also encountered mixed fortunes: Nicholas Latifi's second top-10 qualifying performance of the day was offset by teammate Egor Orudzhev spinning into the Turn 6 gravel early in the session, leaving the Hungaroring winner in last position.

The top 10 was completed by Draco's Pietro Fantin, who bounced back to record a solid performance after an alternator failure in Q1 left him on the penultimate row for race one.

RACE TWO QUALIFYING TIMES:

Originally on Autosport.com