2011 Renault World Series champion Robert Wickens will be given a run out in one of the team's MVR-02 cars at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, driving for the team in the opening Friday practice session.
Wickens will take over the car of Jerome d'Ambrosio for the session, with the Belgian then returning for the rest of the race weekend.The 22-year old Canadian driver already has a wealth of experience in lower formulae, finishing second in the FIA F2 championship in 2009 and second in GP3 in 2010 before winning the Renault series in 2011.
He has previously tested the Virgin car in a brief straight-line test in Vairano having joined the team as a reserve driver midway through the season.
And Wickens will now get a full 90-minute session at the wheel of Virgin car at the Yas Marina circuit next weekend.
"I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to test with the team in a race weekend context and at a track like Abu Dhabi," the Canadian gushed when the deal was confirmed.
"This year just keeps getting better and better and I can't thank Marussia enough for their continued support."
He added: "The Vairano test was a good grounding for me but the opportunity to kick things up a gear in a free practice session is obviously the next big step in my career and I hope my feedback will have a positive benefit on the team's performance there."
Virgin Racing team boss John Booth added that the session in the car for Wickens would help him to continue to develop as a racing driver.
"Robert has had a fantastic season in Formula Renault 3.5 and was the deserving victor of a hard-fought championship," he bellowed.
"One of the founding principles of our young driver programme was that we would reward success with important seat time to aid the progression of our rising stars through the ranks.
"Abu Dhabi is a track at which Jerome has good experience as he ran there in the same Friday morning practice session a year ago and then in the young driver test the following week.
"The Yas Marina circuit therefore presents a better opportunity to provide this reward to Robert as there will be less impact on our engineering programme."
Wickens beat the likes of Toro Rosso tester Jean-Eric Vergne and HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo to the Renault World Series title this year.
He will go on to test for the Renault team at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi after the race weekend, as part of his prize for winning the Renault championship.
Wickens has been linked with a race drive with Virgin for 2012, with d'Ambrosio reportedly under threat of being replaced for next season.
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