Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Nürburgring: Sixth victory for Rowland

Oliver Rowland (Fortec Motorsports) is dominating Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver this weekend at Nürburgring. After securing pole position he made no bad surprises and has won the first race. He was leading from start to checkered flag in the 23-lap race with one Safety Car interruption. Nyck de Vries (DAMS) finished second and Rowland’s teammate Jazeman Jaafar was third.

It was Rowland’s sixth victory this season and he extended the championship lead and increased the gap ahead of main championship rival Matthieu Vaxiviere (Lotus), who finished fourth today. De Vries jumped from fourth to second at the start and Jaffar jumped from sixth to third. Vaxiviere moved only one position from fifth to fourth. He tried to overtake Jaafar in Lap 21 but after attack he went too wide and Jaafar remained third.

All leading positions from 1st to 8th was set in Turn 1 and Lap 1, after that there was no changes, even after restart in Lap 13. Tom Dillmann (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) finished fifth, Tio Ellinas (Strakka Racing) was sixth, Pietro Fantin (International Draco Racing) was seventh and Gustav Malja (Strakka Racing) was eighth. Egor Orudzhev (Arden Motorsport) started from 16th and was 11th after Lap 1. He overtook Alfonso Celis Jr (AVF) and Yu Kanamaru (Pons Racing) for ninth place, Celis was also fastest than Kanamaru and finished tenth.

Safety Car was deployed in Lap 9 after Nicholas Latifi (Arden Motorsport) and Bruno Bonifacio (International Draco Racing) went off the road and into gravel trap on Turn 1. Before that we saw early retirements of Dean Stoneman (DAMS) and Roy Nissany (Tech 1 Racing).
After six victories in 12 races Oliver Rowland is championship leader with 234 points, ahead of Vaxiviere with 185 points. Dean Stoneman dropped from third to fifth, Jazeman Jaafar and Nyck de Vries jumped over him. Race 2 at  Nürburgring is scheduled for 13.00 tomorrow.