We get asked constantly, ” ….been a long time since Villeneuve, who’s the next great Canadian hope in Formula One?”

These two guys!

Toronto’s

Robert Wickens topped the times in the opening day of Formula Renault 3.5 testing at the Paul Ricard circuit today, Tuesday.

The Canadian Carlin driver was quickest in both the morning and afternoon sessions. Despite grey and overcast conditions, it never did rain and they stayed dry.

“Today’s test was really good for us,” said Wickens. “We were really strong this morning, and it was a bit of a surprise to be half a second quicker as we weren’t really going for a quick laptime as we were concentrating hard on our test programme.

We have been charting Wick’s career since his first interview on Raceline Radio when he was a mere lad of 11.

He’s smart enough to do most of his development driving in Europe in front of F-1 team owners.

These are serious auditions.

Bruno Spengler, from Saint Hippolyte Quebec, was actually born in Strasbourg France, but moved to Canada when he was only 3.

He’s the other best prospect to be the next Canadian champ in Formula One.

Known as the “secret Canadian” since he does some amazing things with little fanfare.

Bruno Spengler will stay on with Mercedes for a seventh consecutive season in the DTM Touring Car Series.

Bruno’s been a member of the Mercedes line-up since 2003, when he was recruited for the Young Driver Programme to race in the Formula 3 Euro Series.

The 27-year-old, who graduated to the HWA works team in 2006, has been racing with Mercedes in the DTM since 2005.

“I am delighted to be starting my seventh DTM season with Mercedes-Benz,” said Spengler. “During the winter, I spent nearly a month in Canada recharging my batteries and preparing for the new season.

“There’s never a guarantee of success in motorsport, especially in such a closely fought series as DTM, but I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got this year and, together with my team, we’ll be pushing all the way.”

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug added, “At 27 years old, Bruno Spengler is still a young driver – but he’s already a ‘veteran’ with Mercedes-Benz Motorsport in the very best sense of the word. Bruno gets better every year, and 2011 will mark our ninth year working together.

“Today, he is one of the highest-profile and most successful DTM competitors, but also one of the nicest drivers in the field – and a favourite with the fans. There is still much that Mercedes-Benz Motorsport and Bruno want to achieve together, in order to celebrate a relationship that has now lasted nearly ten years.”

If Norbert likes you, it could be your best conduit to the Mercedes connection in Formula, which is very deep.

Money’s on both Robert and Bruno to be the next great Canadian threats in Formula One!

Special thanks to “Autosport” for the quotes and photos!

ET

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