Bertrand Baguette will start the 2009 World Series by Renault as a title favourite after choosing to remain with Draco Racing for next season.

The Belgian driver will start his third season in the series with the intention of improving on his best of seventh position overall, achieved this year with the Italian outfit

Although his season was fraught with dismal luck at times, Baguette built on his rookie showing with KTR in 2008 to become a frontrunner this year, winning his first race at Spa before following that up with a further seven top five finishes before the end of the year.

With that in mind, Baguette, who has also been racing in the Superleague Formula recently, as well as testing the DTM Audi and the Pescarolo Le Mans machine, has now set his sights on following in the footsteps of title winners Giedo van der Garde and Alvaro Parente.

“I'm really happy to be with Draco again. The team became like a family for me and I'm sure that we will be a very strong association next year. I'm very proud that Adriano asks me to stay and I'll do my maximum to not disappoint him. The experiences of those last weeks showed me that Draco is the key for my future.”

For team managers Adriano and Nadia Morini, the retention of Baguette is considered the best way for them to return to the top of World Series standings.

"I decided to reconfirm Bertrand Baguette,” said Adriano. “There are both personal and technical reasons. I have spoken with Bertrand for a long time and we decided to take this step.

“We know that Baguette had many opportunities, he was called to drive with many teams and different categories at the end of the season, and also Draco Team has many drivers that wanted to drive with us. We made a journey together for one year and now we want to carry it forward.”