Magnussen tops FR3.5 finale practice

Kevin Magnussen led the way in Formula Renault 3.5 free practice at Barcelona on Friday ahead of this weekend’s season finale.

The Carlin driver went to the top of the times inside the final two minutes during an exciting end to the afternoon session.

The flurry of action was caused by a late red flag that cost teams seven minutes of the final quarter of an hour.

When the session restarted everyone headed out on track and the laptimes tumbled. Title contenders Sam Bird and Jules Bianchi were the first to depose Kevin Korjus at the top after the stoppage, but Magnussen was not far behind to better them.

The Dane went quicker again on his following lap, which was enough to keep him out of reach as Korjus responded to take second place for Tech 1.

The Estonian then set the fastest time through the first sector on his final lap, but decided to abort the effort and head for the pits.

ISR driver Bird’s efforts over his final laps were enough to take third, while Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens knocked Bianchi down another couple of places.

The final improvement towards the top of the times came from championship leader Bianchi’s closest rival in the points race, as Robin Frijns demoted him from sixth to seventh.

Series returnee Tamas Pal Kiss was strong throughout the session on his way to eighth for BVM Target, while the top 10 was completed by Russians Mikhail Aleshin and Daniil Move.

The afternoon session gave the drivers some valuable laps on a relatively dry track, after the morning running had been affected by heavy rain.

Red Bull junior Antonio Felix da Costa had led the way in the wet, with championship outsider Bird close behind, and Frijns again just ahead of Bianchi further down the top 10.

Practice one times:
 
Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap
  1.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Arden Caterham  1m51.961s
  2.  Sam Bird                ISR             1m52.178s  + 0.217s
  3.  Nico Muller             Draco           1m52.500s  + 0.539s
  4.  Will Stevens            Carlin          1m52.608s  + 0.647s
  5.  Arthur Pic              DAMS            1m52.646s  + 0.685s
  6.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin          1m52.811s  + 0.850s
  7.  Robin Frijns            Fortec          1m53.080s  + 1.119s
  8.  Jules Bianchi           Tech 1          1m53.097s  + 1.136s
  9.  Marco Sorensen          Lotus           1m53.114s  + 1.153s
 10.  Jake Rosenzweig         ISR             1m53.216s  + 1.255s
 11.  Alexander Rossi         Arden Caterham  1m53.258s  + 1.297s
 12.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Comtec          1m53.279s  + 1.318s
 13.  Andre Negrao            Draco           1m53.517s  + 1.556s
 14.  Aaro Vainio             RFR             1m53.619s  + 1.658s
 15.  Walter Grubmuller       P1              1m53.756s  + 1.795s
 16.  Mikhail Aleshin         RFR             1m54.135s  + 2.174s
 17.  Daniil Move             P1              1m54.153s  + 2.192s
 18.  Lucas Foresti           DAMS            1m54.319s  + 2.358s
 19.  Tamas Pal Kiss          BVM Target      1m54.395s  + 2.434s
 20.  Kevin Korjus            Lotus           1m54.397s  + 2.436s
 21.  Daniel Abt              Tech 1          1m54.401s  + 2.440s
 22.  Nick Yelloly            Comtec          1m54.931s  + 2.970s
 23.  Yann Cunha              Pons            1m54.989s  + 3.028s
 24.  Carlos Huertas          Fortec          1m55.723s  + 3.762s
 25.  Zoel Amberg             Pons            1m55.792s  + 3.831s
 26.  Nikolay Martsenko       BVM Target      1m56.069s  + 4.108s
 
Practice two times:
 
Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap
  1.  Kevin Magnussen         Carlin          1m30.736s
  2.  Kevin Korjus            Lotus           1m30.851s  + 0.115s
  3.  Sam Bird                ISR             1m30.997s  + 0.261s
  4.  Alexander Rossi         Arden Caterham  1m31.019s  + 0.283s
  5.  Will Stevens            Carlin          1m31.062s  + 0.326s
  6.  Robin Frijns            Fortec          1m31.226s  + 0.490s
  7.  Jules Bianchi           Tech 1          1m31.238s  + 0.502s
  8.  Tamas Pal Kiss          BVM Target      1m31.247s  + 0.511s
  9.  Mikhail Aleshin         RFR             1m31.424s  + 0.688s
 10.  Daniil Move             P1              1m31.456s  + 0.720s
 11.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Arden Caterham  1m31.481s  + 0.745s
 12.  Marco Sorensen          Lotus           1m31.518s  + 0.782s
 13.  Daniel Abt              Tech 1          1m31.569s  + 0.833s
 14.  Nico Muller             Draco           1m31.591s  + 0.855s
 15.  Arthur Pic              DAMS            1m31.694s  + 0.958s
 16.  Aaro Vainio             RFR             1m31.733s  + 0.997s
 17.  Walter Grubmuller       P1              1m31.862s  + 1.126s
 18.  Nick Yelloly            Comtec          1m31.907s  + 1.171s
 19.  Andre Negrao            Draco           1m32.022s  + 1.286s
 20.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Comtec          1m32.052s  + 1.316s
 21.  Yann Cunha              Pons            1m32.404s  + 1.668s
 22.  Nikolay Martsenko       BVM Target      1m32.434s  + 1.698s
 23.  Lucas Foresti           DAMS            1m32.482s  + 1.746s
 24.  Jake Rosenzweig         ISR             1m33.527s  + 2.791s
 25.  Zoel Amberg             Pons            1m33.543s  + 2.807s
 26.  Carlos Huertas          Fortec          1m33.804s  + 3.068s
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/magnussen-tops-fr3-5-finale-practice

JosÈ Froil·n Gonz·lez Oscar Gonz·lez Aldo Gordini Horace Gould