2009 World Series by Renault season

The 2009 World Series by Renault was the fifth season of Renault Sport's series of events, with three different championships racing under one banner. Consisting of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy, the World Series by Renault ran at seven different venues, where fans can get into the meetings for no cost whatsoever, such is the uniqueness of the series.

The series began on 18 April at the Circuit de Catalunya, just outside Barcelona and finished on 25 October at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragón in Alcañiz. The 2009 calendar featured two changes to the calendar from 2008, with Monza and Estoril being replaced by two new circuits in the Algarve and the season-ending round in Aragón. Catalunya moved to the season-opening round, having been the 2008 season finale. The series also visited Belgium, France, Hungary, Germany and the United Kingdom during the season, while Formula Renault 3.5 had two extra races on its own, in support of the Monaco Grand Prix in May, and also the 1000 km of Algarve in August.

The early pacesetter in the championship was Marcos Martínez of Pons Racing, scoring more points in the first two races than he did in the entire 2008 season. Martínez won both races at the opening round in Barcelona, and added a third in succession at Spa, opening up a fourteen-point lead over International DracoRacing's Bertrand Baguette. Baguette remained in contention with Martínez despite not winning a race in the first half of the season, finishing in the top three four times. Indeed, Martínez and Baguette were level on 56 points after the Hungaroring, which earned Martínez a chance to drive a Renault Formula One car at the Silverstone meeting.

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