Bianchi ends wait for first FR3.5 Series win

Jules Bianchi (Tech 1 Racing) led from start to finish at the NÃ¼rburgring to claim his first victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, with Nico MÃ¼ller (International Draco Racing) and Robin Frijns (Fortec Motorsports) finishing second and third respectively. By finishing third, 2011 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion Frijns takes the overall championship lead and edges ever closer to an appearance in the Red Bull Racing F1 exhibition – the prize at stake for the man at the top of the standings at the end of the weekend.

Robin Frijns and Jules Bianchi engaged in a brilliant duel in qualifying. French driver Bianchi eventually got the better of his Dutch rival, putting in a perfect lap to claim his maiden pole position in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The drivers had 450 seconds of DRS at their disposal for the race.

Bianchi made a perfect start to the race, but the same cannot be said for Frijns and Arthur Pic (Dams). Nico MÃ¼ller, who started fourth on the grid, took advantage of the pair’s less than ideal getaway to move up into second place. Bianchi, MÃ¼ller and Frijns began to pull away after the first lap, while Pic, fourth at this stage, fought to keep Kevin Magnussen (Carlin), Walter GrubmÃ¼ller (P1 Motorsport), Marco Sorensen (Lotus), Sam Bird (ISR), Antonio Felix da Costa (Arden Caterham) and Carlos Huertas (Fortec Motorsports) at bay.

The leading trio took advantage of the battle behind them and began to widen the gap, and after five laps, Bianchi, MÃ¼ller and Frijns were almost five seconds ahead of Pic. The Frenchman held the upper hand over Magnussen, while Sorensen moved up into sixth after getting past GrubmÃ¼ller with a perfect maneuver.

Bianchi was having a masterful race at the front of the field and managed to build a slim lead over MÃ¼ller, who for his part was gradually moving away from Frijns. The most keenly contested battle was for Grubmuller’s seventh place, with the Austrian doing everything in his power to stop Sam Bird from sneaking past.

Frijns caught up with MÃ¼ller towards the end of the race and launched a DRS-aided attack, but MÃ¼ller refused to budge. The fight for fifth place was every bit as intense, with Sorensen also regaining contact with Magnussen.

From then, however, the race order remained unchanged. Bianchi, Sahara Force India’s third driver and a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, took the checkered flag to claim his first victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. With it, he became the sixth different winner in six races. MÃ¼ller, for his part, finished second to make his first appearance on the podium this season. The biggest winner, however, was third-placed Robin Frijns, who moves top of the championship standings with a two-point lead over Sam Bird, who could only finish eighth.

What they said:

Jules Bianchi: “It’s never easy to win! We had a difficult start to the season, and even this weekend things started badly with the technical problems we suffered in collective testing. But I knew the car was quick, and that showed in qualifying. This victory really kick-starts my season. I’ll need more wins if I’m to have a real hope of winning the championship."

Nico MÃ¼ller: “From the start, we knew we were in a good position to do well. This podium finish is the culmination of all the work we’ve done since the first tests. The season started very badly at Motorland AragÂ¢n, but since then we have made steady progress. It wasn’t possible for us to win today, but it will come eventually."

Robin Frijns: “I didn’t get off to a good start, to say the least. But after that, the race went well. We have the car to win and I was faster than Nico [MÃ¼ller], but he defended his position perfectly without making the slightest mistake. I’m top of the championship tonight, but all I’m thinking about now is qualifying well tomorrow and getting a good result."

POS	NUM	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	LAPS	GAP_FIRST	FL_TIME
1	8	Jules BIANCHI	FRA	TECH 1 RACING	27	–	1:43.515
2	21	Nico MÃœLLER	SUI	INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING	27	+9.725	1:44.133
3	4	Robin FRIJNS	NED	FORTEC MOTORSPORTS	27	+10.468	1:43.982
4	28	Arthur PIC	FRA	DAMS	27	+11.513	1:43.899
5	1	Kevin MAGNUSSEN	DEN	CARLIN	27	+25.057	1:44.275
6	12	Marco SÃ˜RENSEN	DEN	LOTUS	27	+28.187	1:44.264
7	9	Walter GRUBMÃœLLER	AUT	P1 MOTORSPORT	27	+34.083	1:44.677
8	5	Sam BIRD	GBR	ISR	27	+35.356	1:44.854
9	26	Antonio Felix DA COSTA	POR	ARDEN CATERHAM	27	+36.257	1:44.803
10	2	Will STEVENS	GBR	CARLIN	27	+42.100	1:45.060
11	6	Jake ROSENZWEIG	USA	ISR	27	+44.640	1:44.945
12	11	Cesar RAMOS	BRA	LOTUS	27	+50.390	1:44.472
13	17	Mikhail ALESHIN	RUS	TEAM RFR	27	+53.947	1:45.414
14	7	Kevin KORJUS	EST	TECH 1 RACING	27	+54.519	1:45.424
15	10	Daniil MOVE	RUS	P1 MOTORSPORT	27	+55.727	1:44.790
16	20	Zoel AMBERG	SUI	PONS RACING	27	+1:05.767	1:45.659
17	19	Yann CUNHA	BRA	PONS RACING	27	+1:06.320	1:45.759
18	25	Alexander ROSSI	USA	ARDEN CATERHAM	27	+1:06.766	1:44.792
19	22	André NEGRÃƒO	BRA	INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING	27	+1:07.585	1:45.619
20	18	Anton NEBYLITSKIY	RUS	TEAM RFR	27	+1:09.516	1:45.568
21	16	Nicolay MARTSENKO	RUS	BVM TARGET	27	+1:26.866	1:45.751
22	15	Giovanni VENTURINI	ITA	BVM TARGET	27	+1:43.548	1:46.654
23	3	Carlos HUERTAS	COL	FORTEC MOTORSPORTS	26	1 Lap	1:44.816
DNF	24	Nick YELLOLY	GBR	COMTEC RACING	19	15	174.9
DNF	27	Lucas FORESTI	BRA	DAMS	11	6	175.9
DNF	23	Vittorio GHIRELLI	ITA	COMTEC RACING	1	0	–