Although he failed to show the scintillating pace that has made him such a dominant force in the second half of the season, fifth place in Barcelona for Alx Danielsson was all he needed to confirm himself as the surprise winner of the World Series by Renault - at least for the moment.
Having played catch-up all year and entering the final two races of the season some 15 points off the championship lead, a win in the first race and fifth in the second, coupled to a failure to score for arch-rivals Borja Garcia in race one and Andy Soucek in race two, means Danielsson lifts the title, despite this being the first time the Swede has even led the standings this season.
The race itself was won by Alvaro Parente after he hunted down and passed Pastor Maldonado through the pit stops, although it is the latter Venezuelan who is now Danielsson's biggest foe for the title even now because while 12 points for second means he ends the standings in fourth, an appeal for the win he was disqualified from at Misano is pending. Should he win that appeal, he wins the title by nine points.
For the moment though it is Danielsson who is celebrating after a marvelous turn of form over the second half of the season that saw him claim only his first ever podium in the eleventh round of the eighteen race season at the Nurburgring. Nonetheless, he went on to follow that up with four wins out of six races, while the extra points for two fastest laps and three pole positions have also helped him overhaul long-time championship leader Soucek on home ground.
Indeed, Soucek's hopes of keeping Danielsson at bay rested on him making a mistake after the Spaniard was involved in a collision on the opening lap, forcing him to pit. Although he returned to the circuit later in the race to win back the point for fastest lap, he lost out to Robbie Kerr, another driver involved in lap one fracas having started a strong fifth. He would eventually claim the fastest lap when he re-entered the race late on.
![Alvaro Parente - Victory Engineering [pic credit: Renault Sport media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/278294.jpg)
