World Series by Renault: After a summer break everybody's going to Silverstone

The summer break is over and the World Series by Renault is back in full layout – all three racing series will take place this weekend at Silverstone. Drivers of Renault Sport Trophy, Formula Renault 3.5 and Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup will feature eight races in two days, plus other activities like Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 Show and Renault Sport Show, so the fans will have a rich programme to see.

In Formula Renault 3.5 Series as the second half of the season gets underway, two drivers are in a league of their own. Championship leader Oliver Rowland (Fortec Motorsports) will race at home and he wants to continue his form which has resulted in three wins and two additional podium finishes in the last five races. Second placed Matthieu Vaxiviere (Lotus), who won three races in 2015, will try to reduce his 26-point deficit.

Jazeman Jaafar (Fortec Motorsports) holds the third spot, but he is under threat from Dean Stoneman (DAMS).  Nyck de Vries (DAMS) and Tom Dillmann (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) are fifth and sixth respectively. Egor Orudzhev (Arden Motorsport) showed his potential with victory at Hungaroring, but is only at seventh place in championship.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series races are scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 and Sunday at the same time.

In Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Louis Delétraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) has a solid lead with a 34-point gap ahead of Jake Hughes (Koiranen GP). The British driver currently leads a chase group, which includes Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing, 3rd), Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing, 4th), Ben Barnicoat (Fortec Motorsports, 5th) and Matevos Isaakyan (JD Motorsport, 7th), all of whom are all gunning for their maiden victory. Dennis Olsen (Manor MP Motorsport), Jack Aitken (Koiranen GP) and Ukyo Sasahara (ART Junior Team) already scored victories and hold 6th, 8th and 9th place in the championship.

Darius Oskoui (ART Junior Team) and Harrison Scott (AV Formula) each have 20 points as they continue their battle for top rookie honours. There will be lots of wild-card entries: Ferdinand Habsburg (Fortec Motorsports), Nikita Mazepin (Josef Kaufmann Racing), Matteo Ferrer (Cram Motorsport), Colin Noble (Mark Goldwin Racing), Matthew Graham (Mark Burdett Motorsport), Jehan Daruvala (Fortec Motorsports) and Will Palmer (ART Junior Team).

Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Saturday’s races are scheduled for 13:45 and 17:25. On Sunday race will start at 14:05.

In Renault Sport Trophy, the drivers are divided to Elite and Prestige classes. In Elite category Steijn Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) has 75 points from a possible 75 and he surely wants to continue his dominating form. Behind him, Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team), Vittorio Ghirelli (Zele Racing), Roy Geerts (V8 Racing), Luciano Bacheta (Oregon Team) and David Fumanelli (Oregon Team) will have just one objective: win the Elite Sprint race. Chasing the leaders, Indy Dontje (ART Junior Team), Federico Leo (V8 Racing), Bas Schothorst (Zele Racing), Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing) and Alan Hellmeister (Oregon Team) will try to move up the hierarchy while Pieter Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) will make his debut in replacing Miguel Ramos.

In Prestige category Diederik Sijthoff (V8 Racing) comes to Silverstone with a slim two-point lead from Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team). In the field, the battle is just as intense with Dario Capitanio (Oregon Team), Toni Forné (ART Junior Team), Max Braams (V8 Racing) and Stefano Costantini (V8 Racing) all closely bunched. All four will aim for their first triumph in the category. After two retirements, Niccolò Nalio (Oregon Team) will hope to return to the sharp end of the order. António Coimbra (Equipe Verschuur), Jeroen Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) and Adalberto Baptista (Oregon Team) will try to move up the class hierarchy.

In Endurance, Dario Capitanio – David Fumanelli (Oregon Team duo) leads the way, but regular front runners Luciano Bacheta – Niccolò Nalio (Oregon Team) and Richard Gonda – Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team) would love to bump them off the top spot in the general classification.

Endurance race is scheduled for Saturday at 15:10. Both Sprint races are scheduled for Sunday, at 11.25 and 15.30.