BARCELONA, Spain – Canadian Robert Wickens has won the Formula Renault 3.5 driving championship, an important feeder series for Formula One.
The 22-year-old Toronto native went into the final race in Barcelona on Sunday with a nine-point lead over Carlin Motorsports teammate Jean Eric Vergne of France. Neither finished the race, which gave Wickens the title.
”It’s easily the biggest championship of my career,” said Wickens, who had won a race from the pole position on the same track Saturday.
In Sunday’s race, Wickens started in second position but was involved in an early multi-car crash. However Vergne also suffered damage and wasn’t able to complete the race.
”I went into the last race thinking whatever happens, happens,” he said. ”I did the best I could to keep the championship lead.”
Wickens had five wins and seven pole positions in 17 starts to finish with 241 points while Vergne had 232.
He was named a reserve driver for the Marussia Virgin F1 team this year and did straight-line testing in a Formula One car last month.
By winning the Renault 3.5 championship, Wickens earned a half-day of testing on a full F1 track in a more powerful Lotus Renault next month in Abu Dhabi.
”It’s a fantastic prize,” he said.
Wickens hopes to become the first Canadian driver in auto racing’s top series since Jacques Villeneuve of Iberville, Que., the 1997 world champion who last drove in F1 for Sauber in 2005.
”I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. ”All I could do was try to win the championship and put myself in the best position possible.”
Wickens finished second in the F2 series in 2009 and second in the GP3 series last year.
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