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The
World Series seeks its Prince
 Monaco
is as much the stuff of legend for the World Series by Renault drivers
as it is for the world of Formula One itself, as it is their opportunity
to race alongside the category they one day hope to join. This Sunday,
thirty Formula Renault 3.5 drivers will line up in the Principality
of Monaco for the curtain raiser to the 63rd Monaco Grand Prix.
Since
1972, drivers taking part in Renault Formulas have had the privilege
to show off their talent in Monaco. So this year's Formula Renault
3.5 World Series event follows on in a long tradition of strong
bonds between Renault and this legendary circuit. After the first
two rounds in Zolder, the 30 drivers will be keen to be on top form
for the single race to be held on Sunday morning between the second
qualifying session and the start of the Grand Prix!
For
Enrico Toccacelo, Jaap Van Lagen or Damien Pasini, this race has
that little something extra-special, given that it is quite simply
their favourite race! An opinion shared by Tomas Kostka… even
if the young Czech driver only knows the circuit from video games!
The
list of participating drivers now includes three new names. The
Moroccan driver Mehdi Bennani has signed for Avelon Racing for the
rest of the season, alongside Ivan Bellarosa. So the World Series
now has drivers from all five continents!
Stefano
Proetto (Interwetten.com) has been suspended for this race for dangerous
driving in free practice at Zolder. He is replaced by the German
driver Sven Barth, who was victorious in Formula Renault V6 in Monaco
last year with the same team.
The
Dams driver Alx Danielsson, who suffered an ankle injury in an accident
in free practice in Zolder, is replaced by the British driver Alex
Lloyd, who was 6th in Euro F3000 2004. Furthermore, it is still
not confirmed whether the Swedish driver will be back in time for
Valencia.
Sven
Barth is just one of the many drivers present who are capable of
competing for the win here in the Principality. Third and first
in the races at Zolder, Robert Kubica (Epsilon Euskadi) is currently
at the head of the overall rankings. But the Polish driver has never
raced in Monaco, a major handicap shared by his close rival Andreas
Zuber (Carlin Motorsport).
In
contrast, the experienced Enrico Toccacelo (Victory Engineering)
knows the circuit like the back of his hand after racing here for
the last three years in F3000! The Italian driver will therefore
view this as a golden opportunity to take a second victory in WSR
to bring him back up to the two leaders.
The
French drivers Simon Pagenaud (DHG Saulnier Racing) and Tristan
Gommendy (KTR), the German Markus Winkelhock (Draco Multiracing
USA) the Spaniards Adrian Valles (Pons Racing) and Felix Porteiro
(Epsilon Euskadi) would also all like to confirm their good start-of-season
form by making it onto the podium in front of the creme de la creme
of F1.
As
for those who were not quite up to scratch in Belgium, they will
see Monaco as a chance to make up lost ground. The most notable
drivers in this situation are the Australian Will Power (Carlin
Motorsport) and the Dutch driver Jaap Van Lagen, who were hard hit
by their lack of success after excellent performances in qualifying.
Another driver in the same situation is Giorgio Mondini (Eurointernational),
who was the winner of the Eurocup Formula Renault V6 2004 but came
away from Zolder without a single point.
Entry list
Driver
Nat. Team
1 Giorgio Mondini ITA Eurointernational
2 Matteo Meneghello ITA Eurointernational
3 Andreas Zuber AUT Carlin Motorsport
4 Will Power AUS Carlin Motorsport
5 Adrian Valles ESP Pons Racing
6 Celso Miguez ESP Pons Racing
7 Felix Porteiro ESP Epsilon Euskadi
8 Robert Kubica POL Epsilon Euskadi
9 Enrico Toccacelo ITA Victory Engineering
10 Tomas Kostka CZE Victory Engineering
11 Mehdi Bennani MAR Avelon Formula
12Ivan Bellarosa ITA Avelon Formula
14 Jaap Van Lagen NLD KTR
15 Tristan Gommendy FRA KTR
16 Simon Pagenaud FRA DHG Saulnier Racing
17 Ryo Fukuda JPN DHG Saulnier Racing
18 Markus Winkelhock DEU Draco Multiracing USA
19 Christian Montanari RSM Draco Multiracing USA
20 Damien Pasini FRA Cram Competition
21 Eric Salignon FRA Cram Competition
22 Alex Lloyd GBR DAMS
23 Pastor Maldonado VEN DAMS
24 Milos Pavlovic YUG GD Racing
26 Frédéric Vervisch BEL GD Racing
27 Patrick Pilet FRA Jenzer Motorsport
28 Colin Fleming USA Jenzer Motorsport
29 Daniel La Rosa DEU Interwetten.com
30 Sven Barth DEU Interwetten.com
31 Karun Chandhok IND RC Motorosport
32 Giovanni
Tedeschi ITA RC Motorosport
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