The Pons Racing team have announced that Colombian racer Oscar Tunjo will race for the team for the rest of the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season starting in Belgium, and also for the 2015 season. He will replace Briton Oliver Webb, whose short-term deal runs out after the next event in Monaco.
Tunjo had been scheduled to race in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Signature, but the announcement of the teams’ withdrawal left the Colombian looking for another drive. He raced in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series in 2013 with Josef Kaufmann Racing, and finished sixth in the championship.
Team manager of Pons Racing, Emilio de Villota was happy to have finally got his man, after admitting he had been trying to sign the young Colombian for a while now.
“We are extremely happy to have reached an agreement with Oscar Tunjo, one of the best young drivers emerged from the Formula Renault 2.0 arena,” said de Villota. “I’ve been chasing him for quite some time and I’m very satisfied to finally have him in our line-up.
“We’ll be using the rest of the 2014 season in order to prepare for 2015, a year that we hope will see us among the frontrunners.
De Villota also found time to thank and praise Oliver Webb, having seen the Briton arrive at the last minute to partner Meindert van Buuren at the team despite his main programme in 2014 being the European Le Mans Series with Signatech Alpine.
“Oliver Webb will return at Monte Carlo alongside Meindert Van Buuren, after lining-up in the opening rounds at Monza and Motorland Aragon,” said de Villota. “We want to thank him for the commitment and professionalism he showed so far this season”.