The Hilmer Motorsport team have announced Russian teenager Ivan Taranov will race for them in the GP3 series in 2014. He is the first drive to be confirmed for the team who have only recently joined the series having taken over the entry of Russian Time, who were due to join the series this season but due to the death of team boss Igor Mazepa did not. Hilmer are the official junior team of the Sahara Force India F1 team in both GP3 and GP2.
The Russian drove in the Protyre Formula Renault Championship in 2013 for Scorpio Motorsport, winning two of the ten races he participated in, both at the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone, and is regarded as one of the best Russian talents coming through the junior ranks. Taranov tested a GP3 car for the first time in the end-of-season tests in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2013 for both Russian Time and Trident Racing.
“I would like to say thank you to Hilmer Motorsport for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to race with the team,” said a happy Taranov. “We will be novices into GP3 Series this year, both me and the team, but we will work extra hard to achieve good results. I am sure we are capable of scoring points.
“I am really happy to work with Hilmer Motorsport, a winning team in GP2 Series, and I am as motivated as never before. It will be great to race with the Official GP3 Partner of Sahara Force India and I have to prove them they made the right choice. I am coming to GP3 not with as much as experience as some other guys but I am sure we will have a solid season.”
Team Principal and Managing Director of Hilmer Motorsport Franz Hilmer has welcomed Taranov to his team and is looking forward to working with him during the 2014 season.
“Ivan is a very talented driver and we are very happy to have him in our team,” said Hilmer. “Even if it will be his rookie season in GP3 we are sure that Ivan can adapt to the car quickly and that he will be able to have good results. Our target is to score as many points as possible and to be a serious competitor in our debut season in GP3.”
Hilmer Motorsport will make their own GP3 testing debut at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain April 10th-11th. The announcement of Taranov’s team-mates will be made at a later date.