Alvaro Parente will complete the 2009/2010 GP2 Asia series with Scuderia Coloni, after the team confirmed him ahead of the season finale at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.
Parente, who showed encouraging speed on his GP2 Asia debut with the team last time out, will be looking to build on his experiences of the Sakhir circuit, even though the layout for the FIA Formula One World Championship support event is slightly different and slightly longer.
25 year old Parente scored points on his debut with the team last time out, after taking a 6th placed finish during the opening race, after qualifying 5th. The team will be hoping for more of the same from Parente, as well as their other driver, Brit Will Bratt, who showed some signs of promise during the second race of the last GP2 Asia weekend. The team will be using the finale of the GP2 Asia season to prepare for the main GP2 season, which starts at Barcelona in May.
Explaining the decision to keep Parente at the team for the season finale, Paolo Coloni commented: “We confirmed Alvaro for the last GP2 Asia Series race because
of the great potential he showed two weeks ago in Bahrain. Our aim is to
confirm that competitively level also in the last race of the championship, and to face at our best the new track conditions. Racing in the same weekend with F.1 will mean a completely different kind and amount of rubber on the track, so from a technical point of view this will be a challenge. I’m sure that Alvaro’s experience and enthusiasm will help the team in doing the best possible job”.
Parente commented on the deal which will see him remain at Scuderia Coloni for the GP2 Asia finale, saying: “It was my first race with Scuderia Coloni and we showed,
since the beginning that we had the pace to fight for the top positions.
Unfortunately we didn't had the best luck during the weekend and we only got the 6th place. It was very easy to work with all the team and, for this race; I think that we will be even more competitive. Should be great to go for the win when the F1 championship starts. I would like to thank to the team, Ridge Solutions and ADFPR International for supporting me for this race.”
