Ocean Racing Technology have signed their first two drivers for their new GP3 Series squad, with Spanish female racer Carmen Jorda joining Irishman Robert Cregan at the Portuguese team.
Both aged 23, Jorda last raced in Indy Lights in 2010, scoring one top ten finish (at Long Beach) from five appearances. Prior to that she contested the Spanish/European F3 Open for four seasons in the Copa class for older machinery. She also made three starts in the LMP2 class of the Le Mans Series in 2009.
“I am delighted with this agreement, especially because Ocean is an experienced team in GP2,” said Jorda. “I think we can develop a good work together. I’m sure they will help me to improve my performance. I am eager to test the car, that I am sure is very different from the Indy Light that was used to. I’ll be a rookie in the championship but I’m sure I’ll improve race by race. I must thank all those who helped me build this project.”
Cregan, the son of the Yas Marina Circuit boss Richard, contested the V8 Supercar Development Series last year, and has also raced GTs in the UAE as well as Porsches and Formula Ford. He drove the GP3 car at the recent Estoril test for Tech 1, the team who's entry has been taken over by Ocean.
“I have already tested a GP3 car, but I also know that the first race will be hard and I have to learn a lot,” said Cregan. “Test next week will be very important. I trust in my ability to adapt to this new reality and hope to gradually improve. I think I will be able to run in the top five in the short term.”
Team owners Jose Guedes and Tiago Monteiro commented: “We are very pleased to have Robert and Carmen at Ocean. They are very welcome and together we can do a good job for sure. The test in Barcelona next week will be our debut in GP3. We will have a lot of work to do, but we are very motivated and eager to begin preparing for the season.”