FR3.5: Rowland on pole again for race two

Formula Renault 3.5 championship leader Oliver Rowland took a second consecutive pole position at the Nurburgring in qualifying for Sunday's race, boosting his ambitions of achieving a double victory.

The Racing Steps-supported Fortec driver recorded his fastest time of 1m40.637s in the final minute of the half-hour session, to knock Silverstone winner Tio Ellinas off the provisional pole slot.

If Rowland's form was familiar, Pietro Fantin in second and Tech 1 Racing rookie Roy Nissany achieved their highest grid positions of the season in second and third after finding late gains.

Brazilian Fantin, who achieved a podium and fastest lap at Silverstone last weekend, was a fixture at the top of the timing screens for much of the session.

The gap between Fantin in second and Carlin racer Tom Dillmann in fourth was just 0.088 seconds. Behind the Frenchman, Ellinas picked up fifth in an all-Strakka third row completed by Gustav Malja.

The DAMS pairing of Nurburgring race one first lap retiree Dean Stoneman and Saturday's runner-up Nyck de Vries ended the morning in seventh and ninth, sandwiching Rowland's closest title challenger Matthieu Vaxiviere.

After starring on Saturday, FR3.5 debutant Yu Kanamaru had a tough second qualifying session and will start last. The Japanese driver's Pons teammate and fellow newcomer Rene Binder will line-up 17th.

Qualifying took place in overcast conditions and it was apparent that tyres were taking longer than normal to come up to temperature. Thunderstorms are forecast in the region this afternoon.

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

Originally on Autosport.com