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2013 GP2 silly season


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#1 HistoryFan

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 10:15

Who will drive for which team in 2013?
Which team will replace Coloni?

"SPeedweek" reported about a GP2 race in Montréal.

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#2 noikeee

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 10:22

"SPeedweek" reported about a GP2 race in Montréal.


Are they actively trying to make it even more expensive on purpose?

#3 jeze

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 10:32

GP Pay 2 Drive.

Half the grid to be sponsored by Hugo Chávez soon. Joke of a series.



#4 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:17

I don't think there's a non-championship round like there was at Abu Dhabi this season, is there? It's a shame, because that would have given us an indication of who was driving where.

For the new team, I imagine it will be an established outfit, maybe one of the GP3 teams will make the step up? So Status or Jenzer maybe? But Venezuela GP Lazarus was a bit of a surprise last year, so maybe Zele Racing or something (worst team in Auto GP this year). I would love to see Formula Renault 3.5's most successful team (Tech 1) join and go up against ART, but they're too much of a Formula Renault team to make the move.

A possible grid:

DAMS

1. Felipe Nasr
2. Arthur Pic (current DAMS driver in Formula Renault 3.5 - might prefer to move to the more successful branch of the team?)

ART (presumably the Group Lotus money is going to dry up)

3. James Calado
4. Daniel Abt (ART driver in GP3, runner-up in GP3)

Arden

5. Luiz Razia (can't see him getting an F1 seat, and I think he brings money to the team)
6. Mitch Evans (GP3's champion at the team that took Luiz Razia to runner-up in 2012? :love: )

Racing Engineering

7. Nathanael Berthon (hard to tell what Racing Engineering might do - Berthon brings money and did quite well in his first season, so I think he'll stay)
8. Adrian Quaife-Hobbes (2012 Auto GP champion - but just plucking names out of my arse here)

Carlin

9. Rio Haryanto (reasonable debut season)
10. Tio Ellinas (thanks to the Marrusia link-up)/William Buller (Carlin driver in GP3 - won a race, but was the lowest-placed driver in the championship to win a race)

iSport International

11. Marcus Ericsson (though he really should have done better this season)
12. Jolyon Palmer (I wouldn't have expected him to win any races last season, so he's probably earned another year)

Caterham

14. Giedo van der Garde (assuming he's not off to F1, vdG will continue pootling around in GP2)
15. Alexander Rossi (into GP2 to be evaluated against Giedo van der Garde for a race seat)/Jazeman Jaafar (can Caterham resist the idea of a Malaysian driver in F1?)

Barwa Addax

16. Johnny Cecotto Jr. (performed above expectation, though also caused some crashes)
17. Daniel Juncadella (best driver in F3 this season, Spanish, and Luis Perez-Sala's nephew, would seem a perfect fit at Addax)

Rapax

18. Ricardo Teixeira (loadsamoney)
19. Stefano Coletti

Trident

20. Stephane Richelmi
21. Fabio Onidi (jumps ship from Coloni)

Ocean Racing Technology

22. Victor Guerin
23. Kevin Ceccon (steps up from GP3)

Venezuela GP Lazarus

24. Sergio Canamasas
25. Rodolfo Gonzalez (to represent Venezuela/bring experience)

Jenzer (could be?)

26. Simon Trummer (has GP2 experience, drove for Jenzer in GP3)
27. Patric Niederhauser (their best driver in GP3 last year)

#5 noikeee

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:20

Hasn't Calado run out of money (sadly), how would he sustain an ART seat?

#6 EightGear

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:26

Van der Garde won't be in GP2 next year, at least that is what he said. He also said he hopes to be in F1 next season but he has been saying that for the last 3 years....

Nigel Melker wll probably stay in GP2 but not with Ocean.

#7 KingB

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:28

because he was superb, maybe somebody recognized that :D

this could be my favourite thread. Excited to see the grid filling slowly.
But for Backmarkers prediction: enjoyed to read that, but in GP2 one thing is certain...that nothing is certain. Anybody could drive anywhere. But keep speculating  ;)

I'm also curious about the replacement for Coloni...as long as they are going to be replaced.

#8 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 12:12

Hasn't Calado run out of money (sadly), how would he sustain an ART seat?


He was the best rookie, and he's not an idiot who didn't realise that he was going to run out of money, so he'll presumably been spending the year trying to get as much sponsorship as possible in place. There are far worse drivers who have got sponsorship, so I'm optimistic he'll be okay.

#9 HistoryFan

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 13:10

For the new team, I imagine it will be an established outfit, maybe one of the GP3 teams will make the step up? So Status or Jenzer maybe? But Venezuela GP Lazarus was a bit of a surprise last year, so maybe Zele Racing or something (worst team in Auto GP this year). I would love to see Formula Renault 3.5's most successful team (Tech 1) join and go up against ART, but they're too much of a Formula Renault team to make the move.


Jenzer - very unlikely because they almost hadn't the money to continue in GP3, so GP2?
Status - also very unlikely as they will have a partnership with iSport next year.
Tech 1 - also very unlikely because they were in GP3 and withdraw before the contract ended.
Zele - very unlikely.

To your driver speculations: There will be more moves, iSport perhaps with Marlon Stöckinger.

#10 sesku

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 13:48

Caterham

14. Giedo van der Garde (assuming he's not off to F1, vdG will continue pootling around in GP2)
15. Alexander Rossi (into GP2 to be evaluated against Giedo van der Garde for a race seat)/Jazeman Jaafar (can Caterham resist the idea of a Malaysian driver in F1?)

I don't think so, Jazeman Jaafar was sponsored by Petronas. Mercedes related racing series perhaps? (DTM?)

#11 KateLM

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:20

I sincerely hope the Montreal story is just a rumour, the series doesn't need to be made even longer and more expensive just for 2 races which will be inevitably ran almost entirely behind the safety car.

I don't think there's a non-championship round like there was at Abu Dhabi this season, is there? It's a shame, because that would have given us an indication of who was driving where.

For the new team, I imagine it will be an established outfit, maybe one of the GP3 teams will make the step up? So Status or Jenzer maybe? But Venezuela GP Lazarus was a bit of a surprise last year, so maybe Zele Racing or something (worst team in Auto GP this year). I would love to see Formula Renault 3.5's most successful team (Tech 1) join and go up against ART, but they're too much of a Formula Renault team to make the move.

A possible grid:

DAMS

1. Felipe Nasr
2. Arthur Pic (current DAMS driver in Formula Renault 3.5 - might prefer to move to the more successful branch of the team?)

ART (presumably the Group Lotus money is going to dry up)

3. James Calado
4. Daniel Abt (ART driver in GP3, runner-up in GP3)

Arden

5. Luiz Razia (can't see him getting an F1 seat, and I think he brings money to the team)
6. Mitch Evans (GP3's champion at the team that took Luiz Razia to runner-up in 2012? :love: )

Racing Engineering

7. Nathanael Berthon (hard to tell what Racing Engineering might do - Berthon brings money and did quite well in his first season, so I think he'll stay)
8. Adrian Quaife-Hobbes (2012 Auto GP champion - but just plucking names out of my arse here)

Carlin

9. Rio Haryanto (reasonable debut season)
10. Tio Ellinas (thanks to the Marrusia link-up)/William Buller (Carlin driver in GP3 - won a race, but was the lowest-placed driver in the championship to win a race)

iSport International

11. Marcus Ericsson (though he really should have done better this season)
12. Jolyon Palmer (I wouldn't have expected him to win any races last season, so he's probably earned another year)

Caterham

14. Giedo van der Garde (assuming he's not off to F1, vdG will continue pootling around in GP2)
15. Alexander Rossi (into GP2 to be evaluated against Giedo van der Garde for a race seat)/Jazeman Jaafar (can Caterham resist the idea of a Malaysian driver in F1?)

Barwa Addax

16. Johnny Cecotto Jr. (performed above expectation, though also caused some crashes)
17. Daniel Juncadella (best driver in F3 this season, Spanish, and Luis Perez-Sala's nephew, would seem a perfect fit at Addax)

Rapax

18. Ricardo Teixeira (loadsamoney)
19. Stefano Coletti

Trident

20. Stephane Richelmi
21. Fabio Onidi (jumps ship from Coloni)

Ocean Racing Technology

22. Victor Guerin
23. Kevin Ceccon (steps up from GP3)

Venezuela GP Lazarus

24. Sergio Canamasas
25. Rodolfo Gonzalez (to represent Venezuela/bring experience)

Jenzer (could be?)

26. Simon Trummer (has GP2 experience, drove for Jenzer in GP3)
27. Patric Niederhauser (their best driver in GP3 last year)

Razia I doubt will be back - even if he doesn't get an F1 race seat (I say even, he probably won't) I, imagine he'll buy a Friday drive somewhere. Ericsson is surely done - this year was supposed to be his big chance and he didn't deliver. Not that that's ever stopped van der Garde, but I believe he is much better funded.

Calado's money situation with RSF means he'll probably be in FR3.5 at best.

I can't see Rossi having a realistic future in European single seaters after being embarrassed by Felix da Costa this year. I'd be amazed if Caterham keep him on.

It makes little sense for Niederhauser and Ellinas to move up after promising-but-not-title-challenging debut seasons in GP3 so I think both will stay where they are. I doubt Ellinas in particular would have the budget for it either - he's not a Marussia reserve, he's only won a test for next year.

Likewise, I don't think Ceccon has proved enough in GP3 this year to justify a move back to GP2. But seeing as he was apparently sniffing around F1 drives at the end in 2011 then that might not stop him.

Quaife Hobbs was presumably in Auto GP because he had no money so I doubt that's changed.



#12 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:28

I don't think so, Jazeman Jaafar was sponsored by Petronas. Mercedes related racing series perhaps? (DTM?)


Ah well, that would seem to put an end to that then. Caterham's junior team (excluding Rossi) are all too inexperienced to move to GP2 for next year.

#13 encircled

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 15:01

I am not sure how this will affect the 2013 GP2 lineup but

Status GP create partnership with iSport

Title-winning GP2 Series team iSport International and leading GP3 Series team Status Grand Prix have forged an alliance to promote driver talent on the Formula One™ support series ladder.

The two UK-based teams have established the iSport / Status GP Performance Partnership which will see the leading GP3 Series driver from Status GP’s team in the 2013 championship win a prize drive with iSport’s GP2 Series operation in the post-season official tests.

Status GP’s drivers in the 2013 GP3 Series will also be evaluated by iSport at their bespoke GP2 Series simulator at the beginning and end of the season and these assessments, combined with the season’s results, will determine which driver receives the prize test.




#14 WatchingF1since4yearsold

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:09

such a shame it's all about money, should really be the best young drivers racing in it if it's supposed to be the feeder series to F1.

#15 encircled

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:32

Carlin

9. Rio Haryanto (reasonable debut season)
10. Tio Ellinas (thanks to the Marrusia link-up)/William Buller (Carlin driver in GP3 - won a race, but was the lowest-placed driver in the championship to win a race)

Marlon Stockinger of Status is the lowest placed driver in the championship to win a race.

#16 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:34

such a shame it's all about money, should really be the best young drivers racing in it if it's supposed to be the feeder series to F1.


Why should it be different than any other series? :p

#17 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:05

Marlon Stockinger of Status is the lowest placed driver in the championship to win a race.


No, Stockinger finished the season 10th, Buller 15th.

Ma Qing Hua seems to have enough money that he's one of the drivers rumoured to get a drive at HRT, maybe he could buy a seat in GP2 in order to make himself a more attractive prospect for HRT in 2014?

#18 encircled

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:09

No, Stockinger finished the season 10th, Buller 15th.

Ma Qing Hua seems to have enough money that he's one of the drivers rumoured to get a drive at HRT, maybe he could buy a seat in GP2 in order to make himself a more attractive prospect for HRT in 2014?

Opps. Yes you are correct.

Thanks for the correction. :up:


#19 HistoryFan

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:18

Ah well, that would seem to put an end to that then. Caterham's junior team (excluding Rossi) are all too inexperienced to move to GP2 for next year.


Rossi is very experienced with many WSbR races. But he didn't very well this season against Da Costa,


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#20 HistoryFan

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:18

No, Stockinger finished the season 10th, Buller 15th.

Ma Qing Hua seems to have enough money that he's one of the drivers rumoured to get a drive at HRT, maybe he could buy a seat in GP2 in order to make himself a more attractive prospect for HRT in 2014?


But for which team? I can't see that HRT will pay a lot of money for a GP2 team to run him.

#21 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:27

But for which team? I can't see that HRT will pay a lot of money for a GP2 team to run him.


Not HRT (the only HRT connection to next year's grid could be Uncle Luis Perez-Sala getting his nephew a seat), but maybe Ma could get his sponsors to buy him a seat. Given that the last time he turned a wheel in anger was 2011 in 1600cc Chinese Touring Cars, he really needs race experience before even HRT will seriously consider him for a race seat, so a year in GP2 would be good for him. As for which team, whichever team is desperate enough to take the money of a driver whose last race experience was Chinese Touring Cars.

#22 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 18:37

Rossi is very experienced with many WSbR races. But he didn't very well this season against Da Costa,


Hence why I said "excluding Rossi". The other members of their driver development team are Matt Parry (won Intersteps - a Formula Ford level championship), Weiron Tan (currently 5th in JK Racing Asia - what remains of BMW Asia and Pacific), Max Klinkby-Silver (currently karting) and Daim Hishammudin (currently karting).

#23 GX390

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 19:25

Not HRT (the only HRT connection to next year's grid could be Uncle Luis Perez-Sala getting his nephew a seat), but maybe Ma could get his sponsors to buy him a seat. Given that the last time he turned a wheel in anger was 2011 in 1600cc Chinese Touring Cars, he really needs race experience before even HRT will seriously consider him for a race seat, so a year in GP2 would be good for him. As for which team, whichever team is desperate enough to take the money of a driver whose last race experience was Chinese Touring Cars.


Lazarus? They let Serenelli drive for them :p

#24 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 19:42

Post-season GP2 testing will take place at Catalunya on 30th and 31st October - should be a chance for us to see who GP2 teams are considering for next season.

#25 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 20:11

Half of them will have switched by the next test...

#26 Bloggsworth

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 20:51

GP Pay 2 Drive.

Half the grid to be sponsored by Hugo Chávez soon. Joke of a series.


Not likely, it looks as if he won't be El Presidente much longer.

#27 Doughnut King

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 23:56

In order to cut costs, they've heavily revised the calendar for 2013.

Melbourne
Sepang
Shanghai
Bahrain
Monaco
Montreal
New Jersey
Singapore
Korea
Japan
India
Abu Dhabi
Austin
Interlagos


:clap:

#28 billm99uk

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 16:10

Ma Qing Hua seems to have enough money that he's one of the drivers rumoured to get a drive at HRT, maybe he could buy a seat in GP2 in order to make himself a more attractive prospect for HRT in 2014?


Has he done any competitive single seater stuff at all? Seems a bit much to start out in a GP2 car, even if he was the Chinese Senna...

Edited by billm99uk, 02 October 2012 - 16:11.


#29 Viryfan

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 17:25

We should see an 18 cars GP2 grid in 2013....

#30 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 18:19

Has he done any competitive single seater stuff at all? Seems a bit much to start out in a GP2 car, even if he was the Chinese Senna...


2 races in Superleague Formula, 2 in British Formula 3, 11 in Formula 3 Spain, 6 in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, 1 in A1GP, 5 in Asian Formula Renault Challenge, 1 in Formula 3000 Italy. Not the most inspiring CV, but he has raced single seaters before.

#31 HistoryFan

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 18:19

"Motorsport aktuell" reported about Stefan GP (wanted to drive with an former Toyota in 2010 F1 season) is applying for the Coloni slot

#32 William Hunt

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 23:48

Has he done any competitive single seater stuff at all? Seems a bit much to start out in a GP2 car, even if he was the Chinese Senna...


it would provide exciting battles with Giancarlo Serenelli and Ricardo Teixeira.

#33 BlackCat

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Posted 03 October 2012 - 00:44

if Valsecchi is not in F1 next year then it's clear: GP2 is for Renault 3.5 dropouts


#34 KateLM

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Posted 03 October 2012 - 06:42

If Valsecchi is not in F1 in 2013 then it will still be a 75% success rate of GP2 champions being in F1 the next year. That's a hell of a lot better than FR3.5 has been doing in the past few years.

#35 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 03 October 2012 - 08:26

"Motorsport aktuell" reported about Stefan GP (wanted to drive with an former Toyota in 2010 F1 season) is applying for the Coloni slot


That would be awesome. Do you have a link or was it just in their print edition? I can't find it on their website. Assuming that Zoran Stefanovic hasn't given up on his F1 dream, competing in GP2 would be a decent way to demonstrate to the FIA that they're a serious motorsport outfit deserving of a place on the grid. Of course, I can't see them doing very well in GP2. I can't think of any up-and-coming Serbian drivers they could take on, though they could resurrect Milos Pavlovic!

#36 HistoryFan

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Posted 03 October 2012 - 09:20

No only in their print magazine.

#37 dau

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Posted 03 October 2012 - 09:27

"Motorsport aktuell" reported about Stefan GP (wanted to drive with an former Toyota in 2010 F1 season) is applying for the Coloni slot

This has to be a joke. The guy and his whole Potemkin village completely disappeared after 2010.

#38 HistoryFan

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 10:12

Sources about that?

#39 dau

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 10:49

Sources about that?

I didn't really mean "disappear" in a literal sense. But when was the last time you heard anything of him? The StefanGP web site looks like this right now. Remember his company AMCO that was established in 2008, had one employee and was boasting about their vast experience in aerospace technology on their website, backed up with pictures from trade fairs and random things with photoshopped AMCO logos on them? The website's gone and it looks like their bank accounts were frozen in mid-2011. I'm not aware he was involved in any international motorsport activity since then - but now he's suddenly supposed to be back and starting up an entire team from scratch in the probably most expensive spec series there is?

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#40 TheUltimateWorrier

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 10:57

After today's announcement, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the new team is going to be MSC GP (or a name like that) after re-signing with Mercedes in an ambassador/management role.

#41 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:04

Schumacher has no interest in running teams, I don't see why he'd bother with GP3 or Mercedes for that matter.

#42 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:08

And I don't see Mercedes being interested in a GP2 team, given that it has zero benefits for the car side of the business, would cost lots, and they already have a junior team in DTM.

#43 Lotusseven

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:49

Post-season GP2 testing will take place at Catalunya on 30th and 31st October - should be a chance for us to see who GP2 teams are considering for next season.


Exactamundo ! Facu Regalia will test for iSport & Racing Engineering.

#44 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 13:52

Exactamundo ! Facu Regalia will test for iSport & Racing Engineering.


I don't think he'll be very good. His record in Auto GP, GP3, and F3 has not been very inspiring. Clearly his Varlion sponsorship is worth a pretty penny. If you believe the Malaysian press (probably not a safe thing to do) Jazeman Jaafar's sponsors want to buy him a seat in GP2 or World Series by Renault for next year.

Worth pointing out that as prizes for finishing second and third in Formula Two, Mathéo Tuscher and Christopher Zanella will be receiving GP2 tests. I don't think either of them have the wallet necessary to step up (and I don't think the champion, Luciano Bacheta, does either).

#45 Brandz07

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 17:44

And I don't see Mercedes being interested in a GP2 team, given that it has zero benefits for the car side of the business, would cost lots, and they already have a junior team in DTM.


Granted Di Resta did come from DTM, but it's not single seater racing is it?

#46 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 18:39

Granted Di Resta did come from DTM, but it's not single seater racing is it?


If Mercedes were interested they could buy seats in GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5 teams for Wickens, Merhi and Vietoris. But instead they've put them in DTM. Either they really want to establish the next generation of DTM drivers, or they think that DTM is a reasonable environment in which to assess driving talent.

#47 KateLM

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 19:25

I don't think he'll be very good. His record in Auto GP, GP3, and F3 has not been very inspiring. Clearly his Varlion sponsorship is worth a pretty penny. If you believe the Malaysian press (probably not a safe thing to do) Jazeman Jaafar's sponsors want to buy him a seat in GP2 or World Series by Renault for next year.

Worth pointing out that as prizes for finishing second and third in Formula Two, Mathéo Tuscher and Christopher Zanella will be receiving GP2 tests. I don't think either of them have the wallet necessary to step up (and I don't think the champion, Luciano Bacheta, does either).

Makes no sense for Tuscher to be doing GP2 at his age anyway, I imagine he'll be looking at something like GP3.

Bacheta probably doesn't have a budget but it's no real loss - he's been uninspiring in everything outside of the Palmer ladder. Him winning F2 only serves to underline how the series really isn't worthy of the name it carries.

Mercedes have always stuck their drivers in tin tops, that isn't about to change.

#48 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 21:21

Bacheta probably doesn't have a budget but it's no real loss - he's been uninspiring in everything outside of the Palmer ladder. Him winning F2 only serves to underline how the series really isn't worthy of the name it carries.


Aw, I like Bacheta. He was good in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, and there are worse drivers than him in GP2 and F1. And he was very impressive in Formula Two, for all that's worth. I'd like to see him in a more competitive series, though it won't be GP2. Maybe his sponsorship will stretch to a seat in Formula Renault 3.5.

#49 HistoryFan

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 10:51

We could make a list of the drivers who will test for the teams:

Marlon Stöckinger (iSport)
Facundo Regalia (iSport/Racing Engineering)

#50 encircled

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 10:55

We could make a list of the drivers who will test for the teams:

Marlon Stöckinger (iSport)
Facundo Regalia (iSport/Racing Engineering)

Is that confirmed? Any links for it?