The World Series by Renault, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, is a motor racing series. The series consists of the flagship Formula Renault 3.5 Series (often referred to as simply World Series by Renault or indeed simply WSR), the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy. The F4 Eurocup 1.6 was made part of the World Series in 2010, but was then dropped for 2011.[2]
History [edit]
The series came out of the Spanish Formula Renault Championship, which ran from 1991 to 1997. The World Series was founded as Open Fortuna by Nissan in 1998, and was mostly based in Spain, but visited other countries throughout its history, including France, Italy, Portugal and Brazil. The organization was handled by RPM Comunicacion. The series changed name a number of times, usually adopting the name of its main sponsor, but was also known by other common names such as the unofficial "Formula Nissan".
In its early years, the series used chassis built by Coloni, with a 2.0 L Nissan SR20 engine. The series slotted in between Formula 3 and Formula 3000. In 2002, it adopted a new format, with chassis supplied by Dallara and the engine upgraded to the VQ30. The series also became more international, with more than half of the race calendar held outside Spain.
Renault started the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup in 2003, as a support series in Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends (ETCC and FIA GT Championship). The series ran with Tatuus chassis and a Nissan 3.5 L V6 engine.
In 2005, Renault left the Super Racing Weekend and started the World Series by Renault and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, merging both the World Series by Nissan (whose engine contract had finished) and Renault V6 Eurocup. The Dallara chassis was retained, while the Renault V6 was improved to 425 PS. Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy also joined the series in 2005 to support the main FR3.5 series.
Technical [edit]
From 2008-2010 the chassis for the Formula Renault 3.5 Series is a Dallara built carbon fibre monocoque and the engine a 3.5 litre V6 Nissan VQ35 unit producing 480 bhp with a rev limit of 8500rpm. The gearbox is a 6 speed semi-automatic supplied by Ricardo with steering wheel paddle shift. Total weight of the car is 600 kg (dry).
The chassis cost is approximately EUR 130,000 + VAT (as of 2005) with engine leases costing EUR 20,000 per season.
Champions [edit]
- Nissan years
NOTE – 1998–2001, mainly Spanish-based series (also known as Formula Nissan) with 2.0L engine.
NOTE – 2002–2004, international series with V6 engine.
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- World Series Lights
- Formula Renault V6 Eurocup
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- World Series by Renault
Notable Drivers [edit]
- Formula One drivers in the future and/or past
- Marc Gené (1998: Champion, 2003: 12th), competed in Formula One for Minardi and Williams.
- Fernando Alonso (1999: Champion), competed in Formula One for Minardi, McLaren, now currently for Ferrari and was twice world champion with Renault.
- Giorgio Pantano (1999: 21st), competed in Formula One for Jordan.
- Franck Montagny (2001: Champion, 2002: 2nd, 2003: Champion), competed in Formula One for Super-Aguri.
- Ricardo Zonta (2002: Champion) – 1997 FIA GT Champion, competed in Formula One for BAR, Jordan and Toyota.
- Justin Wilson (2002: 4th), competed in Formula One for Minardi and Jaguar.
- Narain Karthikeyan (2002: 9th, 2003: 4th, 2004: 6th), competed in Formula One for Jordan and Hispania Racing in 2011.
- Heikki Kovalainen (2003: 2nd, 2004: Champion), competed in Formula One for Renault, McLaren and Lotus.
- Enrique Bernoldi (2003: 6th, 2004: 3rd), competed in Formula One for Arrows.
- Giedo van der Garde (2007: 6th, 2008: 1st) GP2 Series winner currently competing in Formula One for Caterham.
- Stéphane Sarrazin (2003: 7th), competed in Formula One for Minardi.
- Tiago Monteiro (2004: 2nd), competed in Formula One for Jordan and Midland/Spyker.
- Robert Kubica (2005: Champion), has competed in Formula One for BMW and Renault.
- Markus Winkelhock (2005: 3rd), one-off Formula One drive for Spyker (Nurburgring 2007).
- Jaime Alguersuari (2009: 6th) has competed in Formula One for Toro Rosso.
- Kamui Kobayashi (2005 Eurocup: 1st) has competed in Formula One for Toyota and Sauber.
- Pastor Maldonado (2005: 25th; 2006: 3rd) currently competing in Formula One for Williams F1.
- Karun Chandhok (2005: 29th) has competed in Formula One for Hispania Racing and Lotus.
- Daniel Ricciardo (2010: 2nd; 2011: 5th) has competed in Formula One for Hispania Racing and Toro Rosso.
- Jean-Éric Vergne (2010: 8th; 2011: 2nd) currently competing in Formula One for Toro Rosso.
- Champions in other categories
- Other Notable Drivers
Television broadcast [edit]
World Series by Renault races are broadcast live as part of a package of the combined open-wheel and touring car races on the pan-European Eurosport subscription channel or its sister stations Eurosport2 and British Eurosport. Eurosport is also on-sold to several non-European networks, extending World Series by Renault's international reach as far as South East Asia and Oceania. The races are also carried live by Estonia channel Kanal 12[3] and Spain channel Aragon TV.[4] Abbreviated highlights packages are additionally carried by several other television networks and stations, including the British channels Sky Sports and MotorsTV, the Dutch RTL 7 channel, ESPN Star Sports in Asia, Speed in South America.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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World Series by Nissan / Renault
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Robin Frijns
Tech 1 Racing
