French racing team DAMS has joined the new Auto GP (formerly Euroseries 3000) series ahead of its debut season in 2010.
The team under principal Jean-Paul Driot plan to enter a three car team into the series, which boasts a prize fund of 1.2million Euro across the six race season.
The presence of the DAMS team is step forward for the series, run by Coloni Motorsport, the team being an established name in open-wheel feeder series racing, having previously run in GP2 and GP2 Asia, as well as Team France in the inaugural A1GP season, meaning they will likely be reunited with the Lola chassis from the series in Auto GP. The team also won three Formula 3000 titles between 1990 and 1994, running Oliver Panis, Jean-Christophe Bouillion and Erik Comas to the title.
“Dams is really happy to be involved in this championship 'new concept',” said Driot. “AutoGP will allow young and talented drivers to race a powerful car with a really competitive budget.”
DAMs will be joined by fellow GP2 team Supernova, the British based team planning to run two cars in Auto GP. Like the French squad their racing CV is glowing; four F3000 titles with drivers who need no first name – Sospiri, Zonta, Montoya and Bourdais – as well as an A1GP crown with German team in 2006-7.
Series organiser Enzo Coloni looked back on the announcements – “We are really happy to have SuperNova in the championship. They believe in the Auto GP formula and in our project, and we are proud of having one of the most winning teams in the F3000 and GP2 history.”
“Besides that, we think that the big news we announced in the last days can give a clear idea of the top quality racing we'll see in 2010.”
