Dean Stonman, the 2010 Formula Two champion, will make his Formula Renault 3.5 Series debut at the season finale at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on October 9/10. Stoneman, 20, will race for the Junior Lotus Racing outfit.
The British ace is due test for the Williams F1 team in November as a prize for winning this year's F2 title. He will replace Daniil Move in the Junior Lotus FR3.5 squad, the Russian driver having been sidelined due to illness. Stoneman will partner team regular Nelson Panciatici for the Barcelona rounds. The Junior Lotus team is operated by Mofaz Racing, which is owned by the family of Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy, and runs in partnership with the Lotus Racing F1 team.
Alex Somerset, technical chief of Junior Lotus Racing, said: “He’s just done a shakedown test at Pembrey and it went very well, so we’ve got high hopes for him for the race weekend.”
Stoneman recently said in an interview with the official Formula Two website that he is aiming towards GP2 for 2011. “It all depends upon budget really, but the aim is GP2. Hopefully winning F2 helps me, as I have a real sense of momentum behind me and now it’s all just about taking advantage of that.”
The Barcelona race will mark Stoneman’s return to Formula Renault machinery, having raced the smaller 2.0 version in the UK between 2006 and 2009.
