Valles, another rookie but one with previous Valencia knowledge, holds fifth place on six points after his third place for Campos Racing in race one, with iSport's Ernesto Viso level on points after claiming second, from pole, in race two. Gimmi Bruni is seventh, ahead of Lopez.
Arden International holds the early advantage in the teams' standings, with 18 points enough to put it two ahead of Piquet Sports. Reigning champion ART Grand Prix is currently third on nine points, with iSport and Campos tied on six, ahead of newcomer Trident Racing and Super Nova.
Carroll's bid to replicate his results from last year's opening round have been dealt a blow by the departure of Gary Anderson from Racing Engineering's technical team, while team boss Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon may be distracted by possible F1 talks this weekend, despite denials from Midland
F1. The Irishman is confident that his season will begin to take an upswing before long, however, although teenage team-mate Javier Villa may take time to follow suit as he now starts to learn new circuits.
Ferdinando Monfardini and Luca Filippi will hope to follow Bruni's lead in securing a strong score on home soil, but their task - with DAMS and FMS International respectively - may prove to be tougher than the Trident driver's, although Monfardini remains something of a dark horse, as does DAMS team-mate Franck Perera, who showed pace without points in Spain, and was among those to miss out on the fastest lap bonus after starting from the pit-lane in race two.
