The Drivers' Championship was won byDutch driverGiedo van der Garde . The2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series was the fourthFormula Renault 3.5 Series season. It began on 26 April inMonza ,Italy and finished on 19 October inBarcelona ,Spain after 17 races.
After a three-year cycle, the current Formula Renault 3.5 chassis was replaced by a brand new car built byItalian racecar constructorDallara . The new car featuredflex-fuel technology and could be powered by either premium unleadedpetrol orE85 bioethanol , which was a first for this level ofmotorsport inEurope . TheRenault V6 engine, prepared byFrench companySolution F , also saw its power increased from 425 horsepower (317 kW) to 500 horsepower (370 kW).
The car also featured a new carbon bodyshell, as well as a new shaped front wing, hollowed sidepods and multiple side deflectors designed to improve aerodynamic performance. However, several areas of the car, including the gearbox, rear suspension and carbon brakes, remained the same in order to keep costs under control.[ 1]
The new car made its first public appearance on 21 September at theMagny-Cours round of the2007 season ,[ 2] with development driverAndy Soucek demonstrating the car at the final round of the series inBarcelona .[ 3]
In a change from recent years, only 26 cars (thirteen two-car teams) were allowed into the 2008 championship. The World Series by Renault organising committee announced twelve of the thirteen teams on 5 October 2007,[ 4] with newcomers Ultimate Signature confirmed as the final entrant on 12 October 2007.[ 5]
The 2008 season also saw the introduction of a new qualifying system to the FR3.5 Series.[ 6]
The 26 cars will be split into two equal groups, with each having a 20-minute session The Top 6 drivers in each group (12 in total) will go forward to a 15-minute 'Super Pole' session The grid for Race one is decided by reversing the finishing order of the Top 8 drivers in Super Pole. They are followed by the last four in Super Pole (in finishing order) and the remaining 14 drivers in the order they finished qualifying For Race two, the Top 8 drivers from Super Pole line up in the order they finished the session, with the rest of the field decided by the finishing order of Race one R = Series rookie for 2008
Race calendar and results [ edit ] The calendar for the 2008 season was confirmed byRenault Sport on 9 January 2008.[ 39] Seven rounds formed meetings of the2008 World Series by Renault season , with additional rounds supporting theMonza 1000km andMonaco Grand Prix .
Points for both championships were awarded as follows: Race Qualifying Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th PP 2nd 3rd Sprint 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Feature 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 2 1
The maximum number of points a driver could earn each weekend (except Monaco) was31 and the maximum number for a team was55 .
Drivers' Championship[ edit ] Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)
Polesitter for feature race inbold Driver initalics has been awarded two points for fastest lap † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance. Teams' Championship[ edit ] Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)
^ "New Formula Renault 3.5 in 2008" . renault-sport.com. 2007-07-12. Archived fromthe original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved2007-11-08 .^ "PREVIEW New WSR car revealed" . italiaracing.net. 2007-09-21. Archived fromthe original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved2007-10-03 .^ '08 World Series car hits track.Autosport Magazine , Vol. 190, No. 5, pp. 13, Haymarket Publications. 1 November 2007. ^ "Twelve of the thirteen teams pre-selected" . renault-sport.com. 2007-10-05. Archived fromthe original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved2007-10-16 .^ "Ultimate Signature completes list of pre-selected teams" . renault-sport.com. 2007-10-15. Archived fromthe original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved2007-10-16 .^ "Qualifying changes get mixed reaction" . autosport.com. 2007-11-07. Retrieved2007-11-08 .^a b English, Steven (2008-02-06)."Tech 1 aiming to retain crown" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved2008-02-06 . ^ "Draco roll with new signing" . crash.net. 2007-11-24. Archived fromthe original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved2007-11-25 .^ "Baguette to join Barba at Draco" . italiaracing.net. 2007-11-24. Archived fromthe original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved2007-11-25 .^a b Freeman, Glenn (2007-12-20)."Aleshin and Wickens stay with Carlin" . autosport.com. Retrieved2007-12-20 . ^ "Epsilon signs Mario Romancini" . italiaracing.net. 2008-01-28. Archived fromthe original on 2009-09-11. Retrieved2008-01-30 .^ Mills, Peter (2008-09-22)."Albuquerque returns to Epsilon" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-09-26. Retrieved2008-09-22 . ^ Mills, Peter (2008-02-19)."Epsilon sign Frenchman Marsoin" . autosport.com. Retrieved2008-02-19 . ^ "Miguel Molina and Prema together in the 2008 World Series by Renault Championship" . formula3.cc. 2008-02-05. Archived fromthe original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved2008-02-05 .^ "Alvaro Barba and Prema together in the 2008 World Series by Renault Championship" . formula3.cc. 2007-01-09. Archived fromthe original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved2007-01-09 .^ "Aleix Alcaraz signs with RC Motorsport" . italiaracing.net. 2008-02-14. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-02-20 .^ Mills, Peter (2008-07-01)."Cantelli set to replace Alcaraz" . autosport.com. Retrieved2008-07-01 . ^ "RC Motorsport signs Borja Garcia" . italiaracing.net. 2008-03-21. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-03-23 .^ "Duncan Tappy to drive for RC Motorsport" . italiaracing.net. 2008-05-30. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-05-30 .^ "Agreement reached with Paolo Maria Nocera" . rcmotorsport.it. 2008-08-25. Retrieved2008-08-25 .[permanent dead link ] ^a b "Pons announces Cortes and Martinez" . italiaracing.net. 2008-02-27. Archived fromthe original on 2008-03-05. Retrieved2008-02-28 .^ "Alcaraz joins Pons" . crash.net. 2008-07-03. Archived fromthe original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved2008-07-04 .^ "Daniil Move signs with KTR" . italiaracing.net. 2008-02-06. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-02-07 .^ Mills, Peter (2008-08-21)."Cunill fills first empty KTR seat" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved2008-08-21 . ^ Freeman, Glenn (2007-12-17)."Moreau to stay with KTR for 2008" . autosport.com. Retrieved2007-12-17 . ^ "Sergey Afanasiev to race for KTR" . italiaracing.net. 2008-09-02. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-09-02 .^a b "Telmex announces Sanchez for Interwetten's ride" . italiaracing.net. 2008-02-07. Archived fromthe original on 2008-02-14. Retrieved2008-02-08 .^ Freeman, Glenn (2008-01-02)."Van der Garde switches to P1 for '08" . autosport.com. Retrieved2008-01-02 . ^ "Pippa Mann resigns with P1 Motorsport" . italiaracing.net. 2008-01-07. Archived fromthe original on 2008-01-08. Retrieved2008-01-07 .^ English, Steven (2008-02-12)."Walker stays on with Fortec Motorsport" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved2008-02-12 . ^ "Fortec signs Julian Theobald" . italiaracing.net. 2008-04-23. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-04-23 .^ English, Steven (2008-05-20)."Fauzy secures Fortec drive" . autosport.com. Retrieved2008-05-20 . ^ English, Steven (2008-02-11)."Bonanomi completes Comtec line-up" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-02-14. Retrieved2008-02-11 . ^ "First signing for Comtec" . crash.net. 2008-01-27. Archived fromthe original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved2008-01-27 .^ "Team title up for grabs in Barcelona" . renault-sport.com. 2008-10-10. Archived fromthe original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved2008-10-10 .^ Noble, Jonathan (2008-03-05)."Carbone signs with Ultimate Signature" . autosport.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved2008-03-05 . ^ "Ultimate/Signature confirm Brazilian Claudio Cantelli" . italiaracing.net. 2008-03-06. Archived fromthe original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved2008-03-06 .^ "Guerrieri graduates" . crash.net. 2008-06-04. Archived fromthe original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved2008-06-04 .^ "Seven World Series by Renault meetings scheduled for 2008" .renault-sport.com .Renault Sport . 2007-01-09. Archived fromthe original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved2007-01-09 .
World Series by Nissan World Series Lights Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault 3.5 Series World Series Formula V8 3.5