ricciardo moved to the british formula 3 championship for the 2009 season driving for carlin motorsport. he also made his debut in the 3.5-litre world series by renault championship, racing alongside charles pic at tech 1 racing for the rounds at the autódromo internacional do algarve in portugal. he retired from the first race, before finishing fifteenth in the second. when he returned to formula three, he extended his championship lead to 45 points before returning to the portuguese circuit. a win and a third in the british-registered cars, gave him an unassailable 64-point lead over renger van der zande with just 42 available. this meant that ricciardo became the first australian driver since david brabham in 1989 to win the british formula 3 title. just like brabham, ricciardo won the title in a car powered by a volkswagen engine. ricciardo finished the season on a high, taking both pole positions for the final round of the series, at brands hatch. he won the first race by fifteen seconds, and finished fourth (third in british-registered cars as marcus ericsson was running in the invitational class) in the season-ending race. his championship winning margin was 87 points as walter grubmüller overhauled his teammate van der zande, who was absent from the weekend due to a conflicting euroseries race in barcelona.