Young Tauranga racing driver Richie Stanaway has immediately impressed behind the wheel of the fastest car he's driven in his career.
Stanaway, (left), had his first taste of the new-generation 530-horsepower Zytek V8-powered Formula Renault 3.5 car when all 13 teams and 26 drivers signed for the 2012 World Seriesby Renault took part in the opening pre-season test session at Paul Ricard in the south of France this week.
The FR 3.5 car for the World Series is new for the 2012 season, replacing the former V6 car, with a new chassis and engine package and aerodynamics that include a Formula 1-style drag-reduction system.
The new cars were run for the first time by the teams on Tuesday at Circuit Paul Ricard, where Stanaway was immediately on the pace for the Lotus squad and set the second fastest time - bettered only by Dutch driver Robin Frijns.
Lap times for the new car were more than four seconds quicker than the best achieved by the previous-generation FR 3.5 car.
On Wednesday, Stanaway's running was restricted by a technical problem but in his sole flying lap on new tyres the 20-year-old Kiwi ranked fourth fastest for the day. Frijns was again fastest, heading Force India F1 test driver Jules Bianchi (France) and the Danish driver Kevin Magnussen, who was runner-up in the 2011 British Formula 3 Championship.
A second phase of pre-season testing will be held in Barcelona on April 3-4. The first race weekend is in Spain on May 5-6.
