Spanish GP2 outfit Racing Engineering have announced that Dani Clos and Christian Vietoris will race for them in the FIA Formula One World Championship supporting GP2 Series.
21 year old Clos will be returning to the outfit for a second tilt at the Championship, and looking to improve on a tough 2009 campaign, which ended on a high during the season finale at Portimao, where he claimed a front row start and his maiden GP2 podium. Clos will be looking to carry on his end of season form in the 2010 campaign, and his natural speed should see the Spaniard claim more podium finishes. “Honestly, I feel very proud to be able to do a second year in GP2 with the Racing Engineering” Said Clos. “I’m very happy with the work done here during last season. I am approaching this season differently to last year's and we are all working very hard to achieve our target, which is the title. I know the level of competition is very high in GP2, but I am very confident since I have been working really hard during the winter and I have a lot of confidence in the team”.
For Vietoris, the 20 year old from Germany, who finished runner up in the Formula 3 Euro Series with 4 wins, will be making his GP2 debut with the team in 2010.
Vietoris is currently competing in the GP2 Asia series, using the 8 race series to build up his experience levels ahead of the full season. He impressed the team back in November 2009, thus making him the logical choice to join the team for 2010. Vietoris said about joining the team: “I am very happy to be part of the team. I enjoyed working with them already last year at Paul Ricard and surely, I am looking forward to get the season started. Currently I am racing in the GP2 Asia Series to prepare myself as much as possible. There are a few new things for me to learn like pit stops, starting with a hand clutch, etc. But the goal is to fight for poles and podiums, score as many points as possible. And I think we can have good year!”
The president of Racing Engineering, Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, commented on the 2010 driver announcement: “We are very happy with our 2010 line up. Dani's ascending learning curve during 2009 and the fact that he continues working in a known environment put him in a position where he can go for the title. Christian, on the other hand, has tremendous talent and is extremely professional given his age. Although being a rookie, I am sure he will fight for a win quickly. Our ultimate goal obviously, has to be to win the drivers' championship, like in 2008, and I think both could go for it. Winning a championship title is never easy and definitely not in GP2, but given their speed and professional approaches, I wouldn't want to bet against them. We will know at the last race of the season, since both have the ability to pull it off. Once again, we have a great technical team to back up our drivers and we hope to continue to provide them with the most reliable cars on the grid like in previous seasons.”
The 2010 GP2 Championship kicks off with the Paul Ricard test on the 23rd to 25th March ahead of the season opening race on the 8th and 9th May, in support of the FIA Formula One World Championship race at Barcelona, Spain.
