Paul Ricard last time out brought Vergne back into contention after he was handed back points from his win in Monza on appeal, and claimed two podiums including a race win at his home circuit. Vergne’s points haul now ensures that both Carlin drivers are within touching distance of the crown as they head into the season finale.

Vergne won the first race of the weekend at Paul Ricard with Wickens just behind in second and the final race of the weekend saw Vergne on the podium while Wickens saw his race ruined after a puncture left him at the back of the field.

Next weekend will see both drivers battling it out at the Circuit de Catalunya. The track has played host to the Spanish round of the Formula One season and saw the finale of last years Formula Renault 3.5 series – which was won by Carlin driver Mikhail Aleshin who was crowned 2010 champion.

The 4.655km track is a challenge for all drivers, it is known for being extremely difficult to overtake on however its long straights and chicanes do provide some great wheel to wheel action for spectators to enjoy throughout the weekend.

With only Carlin drivers Wickens and Vergne mathematically able to take the title, the race weekend in Spain will be straight fight as to who can finish ahead of their team mate in both races.

Currently leading the championship by two points Robert Wickens said, “Paul Ricard didn’t go how I had planned however I still have the points lead. I’ve reset the system and worked on a few things and Barcelona will be a better weekend for me.”

Chasing him down, team mate Jean-Eric Vergne said, “I’m really looking forward to the finale. I’ve always loved moments where you have to give everything in racing – and Barcelona will be one of those. I love being the one who has to do the chasing!”

Trevor Carlin added, “We go into this weekend knowing that whatever happens we will finish first and second in the championship. This is an incredible achievement by both the drivers and the team. We will endeavour to provide the drivers with equal opportunities so they alone can decide the outcome of the championship.”

The season final will take place from 7 – 9 October.

The 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 season has seen team mates Wickens and Vergne battle at the front at almost every round and thanks to their great results this season Carlin were able to clinch the Teams’ title a full two rounds early.

With the teams’ title now secure, the attention turns to the coveted Drivers’ championship. Both Wickens and Vergne are in with a shout of winning the title this year as battle recommences at the French Circuit – with Wickens 34 points ahead of Vergne following his dominant performance at Silverstone, and Vergne’s misfortune.

The Paul Ricard circuit is new to the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, it has previously played host to the Formula One French Grand Prix. Although this track is no longer on the Formula One calendar it plays host to a variety of other racing series. It is renowned for its long Mistral straight and brightly coloured run-off areas.

Despite having a break away from the FR3.5 cars, both Vergne and Wickens have been busy in their capacities as F1 reserve and test drivers. Vergne has been busy in the Red Bull simulator, helping the current F1 champions in their continued development of the RB7. Team mate Wickens meanwhile made his debut at the wheel of Marussia Virgin Racing’s MVR-02 Formula One car on Tuesday when he tested for the team at Vairano. The young Canadian completed a straight-line testing programme for the outfit at the Italian circuit.

Despite getting his first taste of F1 machinery, Wickens remains completely focused on his FR3.5 campaign. “I’m feeling pretty good about this weekend. Our pre-season test at Paul Ricard went really well so I’m heading there feeling confident, as we have at every race this year.

Asked if he was yet focusing on the title, Wickens added, “I’ve been thinking about the title since the first race at Motorland. At the end of the day that’s the goal that everyone’s chasing. I’m in a good position after Silverstone, and we’re going to approach this weekend with the same attitude – to take away maximum points.”

Wickens will have a fight on his hands however, as team mate Vergne is also aiming for a good result at his home race. The Frenchman said, “I’m still feeling confident. My approach has changed though. After a difficult weekend at Silverstone, I’ve got nothing to lose anymore. We know we’ve got the pace, the team is good, the car is good – the front row should be the aim in qualifying. The bad luck that happened to me in Silverstone could easily happen to anyone – including Robert – in Paul Ricard so I will keep pushing hard. I’m prepared to take some risks now. It’s my home race and it would be fantastic to hear the La Marseillaise played on the podium.”

The Carlin men lined up next to one another on the grid with Wickens on pole, after a brilliant morning qualifying session for the team. As the lights went out both drivers got away cleanly and held position into the first lap.

Wickens and Vergne were battling with each other during the first few laps as well as ISR’s Daniel Ricciardo who was holding on to the Carlin men well. By the first wave of pit stops Vergne had pulled a lead over Ricciardo however both drivers pitted on the same lap.

Unfortunately a cross-threaded wheel nut meant that during the pit-stop the mechanic was forced to change wheel guns, a hold-up which allowed Ricciardo to pass Vergne and undo all of Carlin driver’s hard work.

Wickens pitted one lap later from first position and re-entered in ninth while Vergne’s unfortunate stop left him in P12, with several drivers still make to their mandatory stop.

Over the next few laps Vergne fought well with Ricciardo, constantly trying to find his way through however when Nathanael Berthon pitted from the lead (allowing Wickens to retake his earlier position) he re-entered the track in front of the duelling pair. Ricciardo quickly found a way past however by the time Vergne got on the back of Berthon his tyres were up to temperature and he just couldn’t make a move stick, putting Vergne in fifth.

In the final laps of the race the drivers held onto their positions well with Robert emphatically taking home his second race win of the weekend and Vergne collecting some great points for the championship.

This incredible result means that Carlin have already secured the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Team’s Championship at their home event in Silverstone.

Race winner Robert Wickens said, “This is actually the first time I’ve been with a team who has just won the championship so the atmosphere is great here!

“I had a great start just like yesterday and got off the line well. After the pit stop the car was just phenomenal and I found I was able to control the race well. I’d like to thank the team for this weekend, we’ve been so strong all year and today was brilliant.”

The series gets back underway at the Paul Ricard circuit in France on the 17th and 18th September.

Six race free weekends have passed since Carlin were out in Budapest for the previous round of the championship – a round which saw Vergne take two spectacular wins and consequently take the lead of the championship.

Heading to the team’s home race with a large points haul sees Carlin leading its closest rivals by an astonishing 158 points.

Once a World War Two airfield, Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire has witnessed over 60 years of historic motorsport making this circuit a firm driver favourite. Its legendary corners and straights provide some great action for drivers and spectators alike.

Both Vergne and Wickens have good memories of the track having both taken wins in Formula Renault 3.5 here in the past. Wickens won for Carlin in 2008 while Vergne was on the top step of the podium last year. Silverstone was also the circuit in which Vergne stormed to victory to secure his British Formula 3 title with Carlin.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Vergne said, “I can’t wait to get back on track, I have been training and now feel more than ready for the rest of the season. It’s been a long time since the last race which ended on a real high for us. I have great memories of Silverstone and it’s a track I like so I’ll be aiming for victory at the team’s home race this weekend.”

Qualifying for race one will get underway on Saturday morning at 9am, with the race commencing at 1pm.

Having impressed at Monza in Italy and on the streets of Monte-Carlo during the Monaco Grand Prix support event last month, the Comtec Racing driver arrived at the Nurburging looking forward to the race meeting having previously gone very well at the track in Formula Renault 2.0.

Steadily improving his pace throughout the two collective test sessions, the 18-year-old qualified with the 24th best time during Saturday’s session for the first of the weekend’s two races. In a rain affected second session though on Sunday, Daniel made a huge leap forward with the 15th best time.

With the inclement weather acting as something of a leveler in performance terms between the drivers with varying amounts of experience in the headline ‘World Series by Renault’ category, the young Dutchman was able to really make his mark.

Race two started well for the Karpack, Boix and De Jong ECOCUPS backed driver and he moved nicely up the order to be in 13th place by lap eight. Taking his mandatory pit-stop just after the midway point of the race, Daniël eventually finished in 19th spot with a best lap time of 1m48.659 seconds (170.6 km/h).

“I was really happy with the second qualifying, my best of the year so far”, he said, “It was raining so that helped a bit but we did a good job to be 15th fastest. At the start of the race everything was going well, I was in 13th but after my pit-stop I lost some time and the out lap was a bit slow. I think I was maybe driving a bit too safe but I’m still learning all the time.”

In Saturday’s 45-minute race, Daniël recorded a 16th place finish after a consistently strong drive through from the 12th row of the grid. Although the challenge he faces in his first year competing in the Formula One feeder championship is immense, Daniël is enjoying every minute.

He added: “It’s great racing with so many talented and experienced drivers as it’s the best way to learn and improve. Of course, I want to be fighting nearer the front but that time will come. I like the challenge, you have to push really hard in every session because the level is so high.”

Next on the calendar for Daniël is a visit to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary, for the sixth event of the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The race meeting will take place just under two weeks from now on 2nd/3rd July.

Vergne made the most of Thursday’s practice session to familiarise himself with the Monaco circuit on his first visit to the Principality. Just minutes after finishing practice 14th, the Frenchman was in a helicopter on his way to Nice airport in order to get a flight back to the UK where he was due to help Red Bull Racing with simulator work for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

Having returned safely to Monaco on Friday night, Vergne took part in Saturday’s qualifying session. In order to reduce the issue of traffic around the twisting circuit, the FR3.5 drivers were split into two groups for qualifying. With the qualifying groups made up by odd or even numbered cars based on championship positions, championship leader Vergne took to the track in Group A which qualified first. Vergne qualified sixth in his group, but in the unusual Monaco qualifying system which alternates grid positions between the two groups, that put him 11th on the grid.

Starting from 11th, Vergne had his work cut out ahead of round seven today. At the start, Vergne found himself boxed in and forced to the inside at the first corner. The Carlin driver was forced to cut the first corner slightly in order to avoid a collision. Vergne gradually made his way through the field as the race progressed, moving up to eighth at the mid way point.

Vergne’s fortunes were about to take a turn for the worse as his team informed him of a ten second penalty for cutting the first corner. The problem was compounded soon after when the safety car came out on track bunching up the field. A second safety car period just a few laps later closed up the field once again, with the pack running almost nose to tail.

With his penalty applied after the race, Vergne was classified 14th and out of the points for the first time this season.

Q. How did you first experience of Monaco go?

A. Its not really a weekend I want to remember to be honest. I just missed out on a last lap in qualifying and that really compromised my whole weekend. If you don’t qualify at the front you know you going you’re going to have a tough race.

Q. Was it a distraction going back to the UK in between practice and qualifying?

A. I don’t think it had a negative effect really. Because of the unusual schedule in Monaco we effectively had a day off on Friday, so I didn’t miss anything by going back to the UK. It’s a privilege to be able to help Red Bull Racing, so it’s not an opportunity that I would ever want to turn down anyway.

Q. How important is qualifying in Monaco?

A. Its extremely important. Qualifying is always key to your weekend, but in Monaco, which is so tight and narrow, it’s essential that you have a good qualifying session. I don’t think there were any overtaking manoeuvres in the Formula Renault 3.5 race today that didn’t result in an accident.

Q. What positives can you take away from this weekend?

A. Its been a tough weekend of sure, but at the end of the day I’m still leading the championship. This is the first weekend so far that I haven’t scored points, so hopefully we have got all our bad luck out of the way this weekend. I’m just focusing on the next race.

The Formula Renault 3.5 drivers were the first to take the track this morning, ahead of the 69th Monaco Grand Prix. Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne makes his first visit to Monaco this weekend, the reigning British F3 champion’s aim was to complete as many laps as possible this morning without incident.

Team mate Robert Wickens already has experience of the infamous circuit, having raced here with Carlin in 2008. The Canadian wasted no time in getting on the pace this morning and was quickest for the majority of the session.

Remarkably there were no red flags to halt proceedings this morning, although several yellow flags did impede the Carlin drivers’ progress around the tight and twisting Monaco circuit.

Both the Carlin men completed long runs in the first half of the session to gain as much experience as possible of the circuit and assess the track conditions. When the majority of the drivers pitted to make changes and switch to new tyres, Wickens was still quickest overall.

With the majority of drivers on new tyres in the final minutes of the session, the lap times began to tumble. Wickens stayed with the front runners however, and remained quickest until F1 reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo just beat him to the top spot, with Wickens consequently finishing the session a very competitive second.

Vergne meanwhile was also making progress and had learnt a lot in his 45 minutes on track. It’s an action packed weekend for Vergne, who flies back to the UK today to help Red Bull Racing with its simulator programme ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. With a big gap in the FR3.5 schedule, Vergne will return to Monaco on Friday night ahead of qualifying on Saturday morning.

Speaking about his practice session, Wickens said, “It was a pretty straight forward session, I was surprised with the lack of delays but I felt great and the car was really well balanced. We definitely still have room to improve, but I’m very happy with the start we’ve made.”

Having qualified first and third this morning, both Wickens and Vergne had their first race win of the season in their sights as they lined up on the grid for race one this morning. Having learnt from a disappointing start last time out in Motorland, Wickens made the perfect getaway to lead the field into the first corner, while team mate Vergne jumped second placed man Albert Costa off the line to snatch second. The order was soon to change however, when Vergne lost out behind an early braking Wickens which allowed Costa back into second.

The three were line astern in the run up Eau Rouge and into Les Coombes, as Costa slip streamed Wickens to take the lead. The Epic Racing driver locked up at the next corner however and ran wide, allowing Wickens and Vergne back through into first and second.

From then on the Carlin duo were in a race of their own, as they began to pull away from the field. Wickens and Vergne matched each other lap for lap – with the gap remaining constant at round one to one and half seconds. As the two leaders continued to push each other, the gap to third man Costa began to grow, and by the chequered flag the duo were 17 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Reflecting on his win, Wickens said, “I made a good start, and made it around the first corner this time! I knew it was going to be tough though and that I would be in trouble on the back straight and sure enough Costa got past me. But I kept him under pressure and he out braked himself and I was able to take the lead back. From then on I pushed really hard; I was trying to pull away from Jev to be honest but we were putting in the same lap times the entire time. It’s a great result for the team though, we’re leading the teams’ championship and I’m at the top of the drivers’ championship as well.”

Team mate and second placed man Vergne added, “It was a really good race. At the beginning I was right behind Robert but I lost all my downforce through sector two and couldn’t stay close so I decided to drop back a bit and have another attack. I pushed hard again and caught him quickly, but again I just couldn’t get up to him in the second sector. It was a good result for us though, I had a really good car throughout the race; we just need learn from today and push more for tomorrow, because for sure everyone else will be trying to catch us.”

A delighted Trevor Carlin added, “I’m delighted with the team and the drivers today. Everyone has done a fantastic job and it’s good to see all of the team’s work come together this afternoon. It was great to see Robert Wickens’ engineer Paul Wallace on the podium to collect the teams’ trophy today, which is a richly deserved reward for all the hard work he has put into our Formula Renault 3.5 team. We need to keep pushing though and try and replicate this result tomorrow.”

Having missed all of collective practice at the last round in Motorland, Vergne was keen to make the most of all the track time available in Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, a circuit on which he won three British F3 races last year.

The Frenchman was clearly on the pace, and was on provisional pole for the majority of this morning’s qualifying session before just losing out in the final minutes to qualify third.

After a strong start from third on the grid, Vergne was second by the end of lap one in this afternoon’s race and kept team mate Robert Wickens under pressure for the duration of the race. At the chequered flag Vergne was second, adding a hefty 18 points to his tally.

Q. You have a good record at Spa, is it nice to be back?
A. Yes definitely! Last year I had three wins in a row here, which is a great memory. It’s my favourite circuit, so it’s really nice to be back here and this time in a FR3.5 car.

Q. You were P1 for most of qualifying, were you a bit disappointed not to qualify on pole?
A. Yes for sure, but in the end third was quite a good result as I had a slight problem with the steering wheel.

Q. You and your team mate left the rest of the field behind today, are you happy with the car?
A. The car was perfect, the only problem I had was with the tyres, as every time I got too close behind Robert [Wickens] I lost all downforce and so my tyres went off quite quickly.

Q. You did a great job to go from third to second today, is a race win the aim for tomorrow?
A. The aim is always a win..! But for sure we have a good car, without the problem with my steering wheel, pole should be the target. Then the win……

Photo by Frederic Le Floc H / DPPI

Alexander Rossi comments, “Coming off the opening rounds in Aragon a few weeks ago, I can confidently say that the team and I met our goals to open the season. However, we are still looking to improve a few key aspects of our overall performance to ensure that we can maintain this current momentum. I am very much looking forward to the event in Spa this week as it’s personally one of my favourite circuits and I have a good track record there in previous championships. The weather always plays a factor at Spa, but we feel that our wet set-up is on par with other teams, so we are relatively confident in that respect. Our focus this weekend remains the same as always, to win, but with the added pressure of coming in as Championship leaders, we cannot get complacent. We need to keep pushing, there’s a lot of work to do.”

Jamie Dye, Team Manager, Fortec Motorsport, concludes, “Alexander’s pace over the winter, and in race rounds 1 and 2 earlier this month, shows that he is one of the men to beat this season. We go to Spa this weekend leading the Drivers’ and Teams’ World Series by Renault Championships and will aim to take away maximum points once again. Spa is another circuit where we have a good set-up, so for the Fortec team our goal is to extend the lead in both points tables and keep up the fight at the business end of the grid. Good luck to our drivers and the team and we hope to see plenty of fans support in Spa.”

World Series by Renault rounds three and four, April 30th – May 1st, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.