New German outfit Hilmer Motorsport have joined the GP2 Series field for the 2013 season after Ocean Racing Technology were forced to drop out due to financial difficulties.
Tiago Monteiro’s squad had already ended its participation in GP3 after just one season, and has now been forced to withdraw from GP2 as well. The Portuguese team took over the BCN operation ahead of the 2009 season, winning two races in four seasons and having a best finish in the teams’ championship of ninth.
“We are sad to announce that our team was forced to stop its activity in GP2 and GP3 due to financial difficulties caused by the lack of payment from our partners Parkalgar and the Portuguese Government,” said Monteiro and team co-owner Jose Guedes.
“We enjoyed the short time we were in both series. We had a great time with success achieving wins and podiums, but unfortunately we cannot sustain our activity in these conditions. We sure hope to be back once these problems are solved, and in the meantime we wish a successful experience to Hilmer Motorsport and a great season to GP2 and our competitors.
“We want to thank everyone for their support during those four years: fans, friends, employees, GP2, drivers and competitors.”
Hilmer Motorsport is run by Franz Hilmer, who also owns the Formtech firm that supplies teams in F1.
“We are delighted that Hilmer Motorsport will participate to the prestigious GP2 Series,” said Hilmer. “I would like to thank Bruno Michel for his support. We are currently working on putting together a strong team of highly experienced professionals in order to be ready for the first challenge of the season.”
Series chief Bruno Michel added: “I am pleased to welcome Hilmer Motorsport to our category. It is the first time since the Series’ inception that we will have a German team in our field. They are already hard at work to be ready and competitive from the first pre-season test session next month in Jerez. I am sure that they will be a great addition to our grid. I would like to thank Tiago Monteiro and everyone involved in his team for their work and dedication for the past four seasons.”
Hilmer will be the second new team on the GP2 grid in 2013 after MP Motorsport replaced Scuderia Coloni.
