Italian Formula 3 champion Cesar Ramos has taken pole position for Motorland Aragon's second Formula Renault 3.5 race this morning.
The Brazilian set the pace during Friday's practice session, but had a troubled Saturday. The Fortec driver flat-spotted his tyres with a spin in qualifying and would start from 16th. A pit stop was required during the race to remove grass from his sidepods after an off-track excursion.
"It was a really important day for me today, after all of the mistakes that I made yesterday," said Ramos. "I needed to come back with a fresh head. I am happy with all of the support that I had, and we decided to take a little risk with the setup. I feel ready for the race and the [mandatory] pitstops now."
Reigning Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion Kevin Korjus' final lap propelled the Estonian to a front row starting position. The Tech 1 Racing driver's effort demoted Albert Costa, his predecessor as Eurocup champion. The pair was separated by just 0.01sec.
EPIC Racing's Costa held first place until the final 30 seconds of the session, when Ramos produced his pole lap. Race one podium finisher Nelson Panciatici (KMP) will join Costa on the second row for this afternoon's race.
The session proved extremely tightly contested, with the first 22 cars covered by less than one second. Panciatici had two spells at the head of the timing screens. Other to briefly lead were ISR's Nathanael Berthon, Draco's 18-year-old Brazilian Andre Negrao, Gravity-Charouz driver Brendon Hartley, Costa, Korjus, race one polesitter Robert Wickens [Carlin], P1 Motorsport's Daniil Move, and BVM Target's Sergio Canamasas.
Having provided the bulk of the entertainment in race one, Move is once more in the thick of it in fifth. The Russian shares the third row with Kiwi Hartley. Ramos' Fortec team-mate, and Saturday victor, Alexander Rossi will start behind Robert Wickens in eighth.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Cesar Ramos Fortec 1m43.168s
2. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m43.284s + 0.116s
3. Albert Costa EPIC 1m43.294s + 0.126s
4. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m43.346s + 0.178s
5. Daniil Move P1 1m43.404s + 0.236s
6. Brendon Hartley Gravity-Charouz 1m43.477s + 0.309s
7. Robert Wickens Carlin 1m43.486s + 0.318s
8. Alexander Rossi Fortec 1m43.516s + 0.348s
9. Nathanael Berthon ISR 1m43.573s + 0.405s
10. Daniel Zampieri BVM Target 1m43.587s + 0.419s
11. Stephane Richelmi Draco 1m43.667s + 0.499s
12. Chris van der Drift Mofaz 1m43.740s + 0.572s
13. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m43.740s + 0.572s
14. Jean Eric Vergne Carlin 1m43.742s + 0.574s
15. Jan Charouz Gravity-Charouz 1m43.812s + 0.644s
16. Lewis Williamson ISR 1m43.815s + 0.647s
17. Anton Nebylitskiy KMP 1m43.898s + 0.730s
18. Daniel McKenzie Comtec 1m43.966s + 0.798s
19. Jake Rosenzweig Mofaz 1m44.017s + 0.849s
20. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m44.089s + 0.921s
21. Andre Negrao Draco 1m44.131s + 0.963s
22. Oliver Webb Pons 1m44.167s + 0.999s
23. Sergio Canamasas BVM Target 1m44.186s + 1.018s
24. Daniel de Jong Comtec 1m44.265s + 1.097s
25. Sten Pentus EPIC 1m44.570s + 1.402s
26. Dominic Storey Pons 1m44.612s + 1.444s