The second season of the revamped World Series by Renault (nee Nissan) gets underway at Zolder this weekend, having been given a welcome shot in the arm by
Robert Kubica's elevation to
BMW Sauber
F1 test driver.
While GP2 continues to garner more than most of the headlines in the F1 feeder series category, the World Series has gone about its winter business quietly, and emerged the other side with an enhanced line-up that could yet provide another graduate to the top flight at the end of the year.
Like GP2, the series has given its Dallara-built chassis a makeover, albeit only aerodynamically as slicks were already a staple, but has trimmed its calendar to nine predominantly double-header events, adding a couple of new venues and paring away those that proved unsuccessful or unviable last season. Monaco, however, remains, still a single-race weekend, but giving the F1 teams a chance to monitor progress in the ranks.
The World Series took its first tentative steps at Zolder just a year ago, buoying its crowd with free tickets that proved to be a hit throughout the year, and attracting 70,000 spectators to see Enrico Toccacelo and Robert Kubica open the season on the top step of the podium. The Belgian circuit has undergone some major safety-related changes in the interim, including the widening of run-off areas, but will still provide a stern test of man and machine when the 15-team field returns to do battle.
Over the past month, those teams have taken part in group testing at three of the championship's nine circuits - Barcelona, Le Mans and the Nurburgring - giving some clue as to who to expect to see at the front of the grid between now and the finale, back at the Circuit de Catalunya, in late October. After a mixed bag of talent in 2005, the new crop features the usual blend of old hands and new faces, with more than half the line-up capable le of winning races and, possibly, challenging for the title.
