Who are the favourites for this years WS by Renault?

**chunterer** · 28 Mar 2009, 14:53 (Ref:2427137)

Just a bit of thought provoking really as we've still got a little while until the beginning of the season, but who are peoples tips for success this season?

I guess there's a certain 4 or 5 drivers that ought to be in contention for the title based on previous form either in this series or elsewhere. Those drivers are probably Alguersuari, Turvey, Pic, Barba and I guess that if he signs up, Van Der Drift.

Some of you might have your own ideas and if so please explain who and why.

kerrmanningjarv · 28 Mar 2009, 16:08 (Ref:2427198)

Charles Pic is definitely a favourite - he was fairly impressive in his rookie year and he's staying with Tech 1, who have championship heritage (Parente won in 2007 and Jouuse runner-up in 2008).

Both Alguersuari and Turvey will be up there I hope, but not sure about a title challenge... maybe in their 2nd years (if they have a 2nd year).

M. Barba and Baguette both need to impress in the Force India lookalike Draco cars... after all, having an F1 link means you have a good oppurtunity to impress, and it will be up to themselves to do so. Not sure if either will be champ though.

Molina has to also be a favourite, as his testing pace has been impressive and Carbone and Guerrieri were impressive in the "satsumas" last year

.

Also James Walker could figure if he is competitive in the P1 car, and both van der Drift and Valles if they sign for Epsilon - the team is successful in odd-numbered years (Kubica was champ in 05, Albuquerque and Valsecchi race winners in 07).

Alex K · 28 Mar 2009, 23:11 (Ref:2427432)

I think it's Dracos year at last, so I'll pick Baguette. It's always hard to tell in FR3.5 coz, really everybody can win that championship even if they race in low profile team. That is whoat I like in it, everybody has chance to be champ.

Shaddix · 29 Mar 2009, 09:34 (Ref:2427879)

Baguette is telling us for several years now that "this is the year", but it has always been disapointing, I fear it also will be disapointing this year

I would pick Charles Pic

roachy101 · 29 Mar 2009, 10:19 (Ref:2427931)

It'll eiter be Alguersuari or Pic.

sauber11 · 29 Mar 2009, 10:42 (Ref:2427959)

Molina-Pic-Walker are my top3 drivers.

wannab-aracer · 31 Mar 2009, 12:34 (Ref:2429749)

Top 5 for me

1. Molina - Good team has shown well in testing, experience will show
2. Pic - Should come on well after good showing last year
3. Alguersuari -Cool under pressure great talent
4. Turvey - Another great talent will be in the mix
5. Walker - On the pace in testing but will do well to beat the above

OJB · 1 Apr 2009, 11:13 (Ref:2430486)

Tough one - it's between Molina and Pic. Both have race winning cars, but I suspect Molina's experience and the fact this is USR's second year could well give them the edge.

Walker has been quick in testing and that P1 car seems as fast as ever, so I expect him to be on their coat tails too. He needs to improve his qualifying though.

As for the others, Adrian Valles can't be discounted - EE have won before and he is a former/occassional GP2 front runner (in Asia anyway!). I'd just about rate van der Drift ahead of Turvey and Alguersuari too, just because he has more experience of some of the European circuits. I'd watch Franck Perera too - quite an underrated entity.

Draco look solid, but I can't quite see either Baguette or Barba being title contenders - race wins should be possible though. I'd put Martinez and Fauzy in this category too.

It's a tough one, but I think there are about ten potential race winners this year, s it will be competitive - then again, there is a bit of a gap to the Pentus', Nebylitskiy's and Leal's of this world...

brucelok2003 · 1 Apr 2009, 11:41 (Ref:2430506)

Jaime Alguersuari or Oliver Turvey can be the champion

WSR Fan · 1 Apr 2009, 13:01 (Ref:2430584)

Right, my prediction for the Top 5:

1. Pic
2. Molina
3. Walker
4. Alguersuari
5. Baguette

Like OJB, I think the title will come down to a battle between Pic and Molina, and although it will be close, I think Pic will just pip him to it. IMO, the fact he is staying with Tech 1 is a big factor as is his new status as a Renault Development Driver.

As for the rest, I think Walker, Alguersuari, Turvey etc. all have the potential to be in the title mix, but in reality will probably have to settle for race wins and podiums. I agree with OJB about Draco too - they won't have quite enough to make a title challenge but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few wins for Baguette and Barba.

My darkhorse for the season is Marcos Martinez. He's got a full season of WSR under his belt, he's got the continuity of staying with Pons Racing and he's also been quite good in winter testing, so he could potentially cause a few headaches for the title challengers' this year.

The additions of Perera, Van Der Drift and possibly Piscopo to the gird will also be very interesting to watch too.

**chunterer** · 1 Apr 2009, 19:48 (Ref:2430834)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSR Fan

The additions of Perera, Van Der Drift and possibly Piscopo to the gird will also be very interesting to watch too.

I'll say!!!

Perera would have to go straight in as a serious contender based on his experience and pace. It may not be too late for him to save his top line career after his rather premature exit from GP2 2 years ago?

sauber11 · 5 Jul 2009, 13:58 (Ref:2496113)

Ok guys , half a season behind - lets talk about season so far.

I must say from my three title contenders only Walker doing good with Pic and especially Molina close, but not where i expected them to be.

Looking older posts only WSR Fan( and OJB a little bit) mentioned Marcos as a possible title-contender. Lets say nobody expected that huge jump from P15 last year to P1 now with the same team.
Among other things that stunned me is Turvey comfortably outpacing Alguersuari, Pentus(just like Kazim V. in F2) scoring points. Also didnt expect Drift to be in front of Valles.
Your sign on 2009 so far ?

**gomick** · 5 Jul 2009, 23:14 (Ref:2496310)

Marcos Martinez has been brilliant - dont think anyone saw that coming....

Robbe · 5 Jul 2009, 23:50 (Ref:2496315)

The most surprising race winner must be Pasquale di Sabatino.

Biggest disappointment is a clear case: Adrian Valles, he has less points than Dannil Move (who, however, is like Pentus a positive surprise).

Not sure if any of these guys will ever manage to drive F1. Maybe Turvey, he seems to be the biggest talent. Pic is fast, and has Renault support, but making very stupid mistakes... Alguersuari has Red Bull but is not really fast. Molina, Martinez, Baguette, Walker are good but I doubt they are that good to drive F1 in the future.

sauber11 · 6 Jul 2009, 09:49 (Ref:2496457)

Quote:

Not sure if any of these guys will ever manage to drive F1.

Wrong

Alguersuari can debut already in 2009 , he confirms that.
http://www.as.com/motor/articulo/for...asdaimot_9/Tes

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