Aleshin takes shock pole for finale

Former champion Mikhail Aleshin took a surprise pole position for the Formula Renault 3.5 finale, while championship leader Robin Frijns was the top title contender in fourth.

Aleshin, driving for the Team RFR outfit that will leave the series after this weekend, moved to the top of the times in the early minutes of a wet qualifying session before the red flags came out when Nikolay Martsenko spun at the final corner.

By the time the session restarted, the track had dried slightly. But the damp conditions did not suit the Michelin tyres as well as when the track was wetter, and the majority of the field struggled to improve.

Aleshin, however, was on course to better his lap with just three minutes remaining, but he lost time in the final sector.

Arthur Pic was one of those to find time later on. The French DAMS driver, who was already second to Aleshin at the time of the red flag, managed to improve his best twice, but neither were good enough to overhaul the 2010 champion.

Race one winner Antonio Felix da Costa made a more significant jump, moving from outside the top 10 to third at around the same time as Aleshin had looked set to go faster.

Of the three title contenders, points leader Frijns led the way in fourth place, while Saturday polesitter Jules Bianchi – who is four points behind him – was seventh.

Outsider Sam Bird had a tougher time, running as low as 21st at the time of the stoppage. He moved up to 13th just after the halfway mark, but was bumped down to 16th by the end.

Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap
  1.  Mikhail Aleshin         RFR             1m53.112s
  2.  Arthur Pic              DAMS            1m53.236s  + 0.124s
  3.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Arden Caterham  1m53.519s  + 0.407s
  4.  Robin Frijns            Fortec          1m53.634s  + 0.522s
  5.  Aaro Vainio             RFR             1m53.711s  + 0.599s
  6.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin          1m53.778s  + 0.666s
  7.  Jules Bianchi           Tech 1          1m53.878s  + 0.766s
  8.  Andre Negrao            Draco           1m54.050s  + 0.938s
  9.  Walter Grubmuller       P1              1m54.242s  + 1.130s
 10.  Will Stevens            Carlin          1m54.257s  + 1.145s
 11.  Jake Rosenzweig         ISR             1m54.334s  + 1.222s
 12.  Nico Muller             Draco           1m54.467s  + 1.355s
 13.  Tamas Pal Kiss          BVM Target      1m54.653s  + 1.541s
 14.  Nick Yelloly            Comtec          1m54.655s  + 1.543s
 15.  Daniil Move             P1              1m54.667s  + 1.555s
 16.  Sam Bird                ISR             1m54.687s  + 1.575s
 17.  Lucas Foresti           DAMS            1m54.805s  + 1.693s
 18.  Marco Sorensen          Lotus           1m54.812s  + 1.700s
 19.  Carlos Huertas          Fortec          1m54.845s  + 1.733s
 20.  Daniel Abt              Tech 1          1m54.880s  + 1.768s
 21.  Alexander Rossi         Arden Caterham  1m54.897s  + 1.785s
 22.  Kevin Korjus            Lotus           1m54.922s  + 1.810s
 23.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Comtec          1m55.037s  + 1.925s
 24.  Zoel Amberg             Pons            1m55.289s  + 2.177s
 25.  Yann Cunha              Pons            1m55.555s  + 2.443s
 26.  Nikolay Martsenko       BVM Target
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/aleshin-takes-shock-pole-for-finale

Hans Klenk Peter de Klerk Christian Klien Karl Kling Ernst Klodwig