Carlin strong in Magny Cours qualifying

A tense qualifying session produced a strong result for the Carlin team this morning, as Mikhail Aleshin and Jake Rosenzweig qualified for round eight of the Formula Renault 3.5 season in Magny Cours. In a 30 minute session which was constantly threatened by rain, Aleshin qualified fourth, with Rosenzweig ninth.

Jake Rosenzweig Credit: World Series By Renualt

Cloudy skies and cold temperatures greeted the FR3.5 drivers this morning. Despite the slippery conditions on the damp track, all the drivers chose slick tyres for their first qualifying runs. Both Carlin drivers had good first flying laps, with Aleshin P1 and Rosenzweig P3. A slower second flying lap by Aleshin - who was finding a gap on track - created some tense moments in the Carlin garage, as the Russian racer dropped down the order just as spots of rain started to fall and a full yellow compromised on-track action.

Thankfully, the rain held off and as the track resumed to green, Aleshin immediately set the quickest first and second sectors of all and took provisional pole with half of the session gone. Rosenzweig meanwhile was eighth.

At the half way point, the majority of the drivers pitted for new tyres, with Rosenzweig in the Carlin pits first and Aleshin queuing up behind. Back out on track on new tyres, Aleshin was second, while Rosenzweig was 13th, but the American rookie was on a charge and on his next lap climbed up to fourth place, just behind team mate Aleshin.

With five minutes remaining, Aleshin had dropped to fourth, with Rosenzweig fifth as the drivers continued to benefit from the drying track. In the dying seconds there was a flurry of activity with several drivers improving their times. At the chequered flag, Aleshin was fourth, while Rosenzweig held onto a competitive ninth place.

Speaking about his qualifying session, Aleshin said, "The important thing is that we are quick, we have a good car this weekend and that everything is working well. I struggled with the traffic again, but you always have to take that into account and overall I'm happy to be on the second row of the grid. We are in a good position I think."

Trevor Carlin added, "I'm extremely pleased with Mikhail and Jake's performances so far this weekend. The team have really worked hard to improve in every session and the drivers have made the most of the car to deliver good results in qualifying. We've got base to build on in the race later this afternoon." Race one will take place at 15.04 local time.

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