Exceptional racing, a unique atmosphere, and a track without equal, Monaco retains its taste for the extraordinary. In this curtain-raiser for the F1 Grand Prix, each of the 26 Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers dreams of making a name for himself on the streets of the Principality, where only the greats are victorious!

Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) made his mark at the start of this season of Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Having won in the first two races of the season at Monza and winner in the first race at Spa, the Dutch driver is keen to show his dominance by shining at Monaco, a circuit every bit as legendary as the other two.

Bertrand Baguette (International Draco Racing) was the only driver to have challenged Van der Garde's unbroken run, winning on his home turf at Spa-Francorchamps. The Belgian driver could not have hoped for a better way of getting his season back on track. Always searching for victory, he is relying on the streets of Monaco to bring him continued success.

Reliable and consistent, Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) currently holds second position in the overall standings. With his breadth of experience in the category and his knowledge of the Monaco circuit, including the many traps which leave no margin for error, the Russian has an ace up his sleeve.

Having missed out at his home track, Monza, Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Team Comtec) put his house in order at Spa. In order to keep his title hopes alive, the Italian must now steal points in every race, so as not to allow Giedo Van der Garde to get clean away. Monaco, set as it is under Italian skies, means yet another reason for Bonanomi to drive well.

Originally from the south of France, Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) will, in a manner of speaking, be racing on his home circuit. He will be one to watch, especially as Tech 1 Racing know the secrets of Monte-Carlo. Last year, the team from Toulouse won here with the man who would ultimately be crowned 2007 champion, Alvaro Parente.

Fairuz Fauzy (Fortec Motorsport) makes his return to Formula Renault 3.5 at Monaco. The driver from Kuala Lumpur will be introduced to the new formula in the principality.

The list of contenders for the title is long this year. But here, more than anywhere, experience counts. For Rookies like Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing), Mario Romancini (Epsilon Euskadi), Alexandre Marsoin (Epsilon Euskadi), Aleix Alcaraz (RC Motorsport), Maximo Cortes (Pons Racing), Pablo Sanchez (Interwetten.com Racing) and Claudio Cantelli (Ultimate-Signature), the occasion will be momentous. They will quickly need to grasp the intricacies of the season's only street-circuit, where the slightest error is punished by the safety barriers.

The race format changes for this exceptional exceptional event! With a 45-minute session of collective testing on the programme, the drivers will need to be on the pace immediately and find their race set-ups almost as quickly. For qualifying, the twenty-six competitors will be separated into two groups of 13 cars. The fastest driver overall will start from pole position. The weekend's only race, without the usual obligatory pit-stop, will take place over 25 laps. The action gets underway at 11:15 (CEST) on Sunday morning

Num Team Driver Nat

1 TECH 1 RACING Julien JOUSSE  FRA 2 TECH 1 RACING Charles PIC  FRA 3 INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING  Bertrand BAGUETTE BEL 4 INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING Marco BARBA  ESP 5 CARLIN MOTORSPORT Mikhail ALESHIN  RUS 6 CARLIN MOTORSPORT Robert WICKENS  CAN 7 EPSILON EUSKADI Mario ROMANCINI  BRA 8 EPSILON EUSKADI Alexandre MARSOIN FRA 9 PREMA POWERTEAM Miguel MOLINA  ESP 10 PREMA POWERTEAM Alvaro BARBA ESP 11 RC MOTORSPORT Aleix ALCARAZ ESP 12 RC MOTORSPORT Borja GARCIA  ESP 14 PONS RACING Maximo CORTES  ESP 15 PONS RACING Marcos MARTINEZ  ESP 16 KTR Daniil MOVE  RUS 17 KTR Guillaume MOREAU FRA 19 INTERWETTEN.COM RACING TEAM Salvador DURAN  MEX 20 INTERWETTEN.COM RACING TEAM Pablo SANCHEZ  MEX 21 P1 MOTORSPORT Giedo Van Der GARDE NED 22 P1 MOTORSPORT Pippa MANN  GBR 23 FORTEC MOTORSPORT James WALKER  GBR 24 FORTEC MOTORSPORT Fairuz Fauzy MAS  25 RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC Marco BONANOMI  ITA 26 RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC Pasquale DiSABATINO ITA 27 ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE Fabio CARBONE  BRA 28 ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE Claudio CANTELLI  BRA