There are certain ways of going about winning a championship in motorsport. One is to patiently bank points and profit from the misfortune of others, mounting a challenge based on consistency. Then there’s the approach taken by Giedo van der Garde on his way to the 2008 Formula Renault 3.5 title, breaking the back of the opposition with morale-crushing victories early doors.
The Dutchman’s three wins from the opening four races with the Renault World Series’ new-for-2008 Dallara T08 established him in a clear lead that he never relinquished for the remainder of the campaign. After taking additional wins at Hungary and Le Mans, as well as runner-up finishes at Monaco, Silverstone and the Nurburgring, van der Garde wrapped up the title with a round to spare at Estoril.
A machine that the LMP2 gun-for-hire today describes as “just unbelievable” is an automatic choice for his favourite car above Formula 1 equipment he tested for Super Aguri, Spyker/Force India, Renault and Sauber, as well as the 2013 Caterham CT03 he twice managed to haul into Q2. The “most enjoyable car” of the 38-year-old’s career to date also usurps the “spectacular” ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2, when run in high-downforce spec prior to its V8 engine being detuned for 2021 upon the introduction of Hypercars to the World Endurance Championship.
Such was his appreciation for the T08 that van der Garde even cut short his first weekend of GP2 Asia with iSport in Shanghai to take a red-eye flight back to Barcelona for the final round of the FR3.5 season, after he’d skipped the opener.
Having raced the season prior in World Series with the highly evolved T05 that made its debut in 2005 and the year after in the second-generation GP2/08 chassis that was also built by Dallara, van der Garde has a good point of reference from which to judge when he says, “the only thing where GP2 was a little bit quicker was engine power”. The GP2/08 used the same four-litre V8 as its 2005 predecessor with 612 horsepower, while the T08’s 3.5-litre V6 weighed in with 500 when filled up with E85 biofuel.
“But drivability, the World Series car was better,” the 38-year-old continues, “because they also had the Michelin tyres which were very good [compared to the Bridgestone-shod GP2]. It had more downforce in 2008 too. It was a very enjoyable car to drive.”
Source: Autosport