Arriving with a glowing reputation into Formula Renault 3.5 this year, a category regarded as one of the premier feeder championships for Formula One, the 18-year-old delivered two impressively strong race performances for Comtec Racing – markedly improving his pace throughout the event.

His best result came in race two where a fantastically well judged drive from 24th on the grid was rewarded with a top 15 finish ahead of a number of much more experienced racers. In the process, Daniël posted a quickest lap time of 1m45.135 seconds – just 0.8 seconds away from the best of all.

In the opening 45-minute encounter, Daniël was 19th at the finish with a best lap time within 1.4 seconds of the fastest of the race. All in all a very promising debut in his monstrous 480bhp, 3.5-litre car – a huge step-up from the 2.0-litre Formula Renault he’s raced for the last couple of years.

“I’m really satisfied with my debut”, said the Westmaas driver, “I think we did a really good job, we improved our pace a lot and in the end came away with two strong race finishes. Finishing 15th in race two was a really great start to my season, there are so many quick and experienced drivers in Formula Renault 3.5 so to do so well on my first weekend has given me a lot of confidence.”

Running with backing from Karpack, Boix and De Jong ECOCUPS, Daniël aspires to steadily increase his pace throughout the 18-race season and be in a position to challenge for the top 10 ahead of a full championship bid in 2012.

Formula Renault 3.5 is unquestionably one of the highest profile single-seater championships directly below Formula One and continually develops future Grand Prix Racing talent. Daniël’s aim, unsurprisingly, is to use hoped for success in FR 3.5 to make the leap into the world of F1.

He added: “Of course, every driver hopes to make it to Formula One in the future and I’m no different – that’s my main goal. Being in Formula Renault 3.5 is a fantastic place to be seen so if we can be successful in this championship, it’ll be very important for my career.”

There is now little more than a week to wait until the next round of the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with races three and four of the season scheduled to take place at Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, over the weekend 30th April/1st May.

Photo by Renault Sport Media.

Fortunately the cancer was discovered early and his doctor is confident in a full recovery. Treatment will begin immediately.

Let’s hope his recovery is as quick as he is on the track because I’m sure we all want to see him back racing as soon as possible!

Draco team owner Adriano Morini commented on the partnership with the Force India F1 team: “With this project we hope to pave the road for young and talented drivers to Formula One. With the Force India F1 team we have found the kind of team to make this possible.”

“With this collaboration we will have a preferential way for our drivers to F1. As everyone knows, until now we have placed many talents, but this is a new and more direct way,” said Morini. “The world of F1 has changed, drivers are recruited very young and this project with the Force India is ideal for both.

“We have created a chain with the Draco Junior Team in Formula Renault 2.0, with Facondini by Draco and RedStep-Draco. We want to arrive to the kart, in order to have a full program. Now we enjoy with our team this beautiful day! I want to thank those who cooperated in this project.”

Marco Barba will enter his second full season in the championship, although he did make a few appearances as early as 2006 for Jenzer Motorsport. Barba finished the championship in 14th place last year with a best finish of sixth at Estoril.

Bertrand Baguette, Belgium, will enter his third World Series season. He was seventh in the championship last season and had a win at his home track of Spa-Francorchamps early in the season. With eight top five finishes in 2008 Baguette will have to be considered as one of the drivers that will be in with a shot of winning the 2009 championship.

Leal says in a Prema press release:
“After my first experience with the World Series Renault environment, I tried to get a contact with a top team. The agreement we finalized with Prema makes me really excited: I know I’ll have the chance to race supported by an extremely valuable team. Since the first test, I also realized that the 2009 one will be another quite competitive season. I know I’ll have to work hard to fight for the top spots and reward the team’s expectations. I really felt good with all the staff, starting from the technical compartment. A good way to start a season which I hope will carry some great satisfactions.”