FR3.5: Vaxiviere looks to get back on track at Spa

Lotus F1 junior driver Matthieu Vaxiviere is targeting this weekend's Spa-Francorchamps round to revive his Formula Renault 3.5 title challenge.

The Frenchman built on dominant pre-season testing pace with a maiden FR3.5 victory at the Aragon season opener. In the second round at Monaco last weekend, though, Vaxiviere was eliminated in an opening-lap crash at Sainte Devote behind front row starters Jazeman Jaafar and Oliver Rowland.

Rowland received a puncture in the incident but, after dropping to 14th, clawed his way back to sixth place in arguably the drive of the race. The Briton is one point adrift of the championship leader, Monaco winner Jaafar, with Vaxiviere a further 11 points adrift in third.

"Oliver finishing sixth, it's not good for me," Vaxiviere said. "I prefer to keep close to Ollie, rather than think about Jaafar. All this season, for me, it's looking like it's going to be a big battle.

"I'm looking forward to going back to a normal circuit like Spa, with the double-header race format."

The Charouz-run Lotus team has received an influx of new staff this season – estimated at 75 percent – following fellow Czech team ISR's withdrawal from FR3.5 to concentrate on GT3 racing. Former SG Formula team boss Stephane Guerin, who assists Gravity Management with its young driver program, has also joined the camp.

"After SG closed there was a period of 20 months when I was not involved in racing," explained Guerin. "I went to Paris to study mental aptitude, and when [Lotus Formula 1 driver Romain] Grosjean was having his problems a couple of years, Gravity asked me to come back. I think Matthieu's looking very strong this season."

Originally on Autosport.com