Nineteen-year-old Dutchman Meindert van Buuren has been confirmed as the first driver for the Pons Racing team for the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 series season. He tested for the team over the winter, and moves over from the Auto GP World Series where he raced for MP Motorsport in 2013.
“I’m delighted of today’s great news and I am anxious to be in Monza next week for my race debut in the Formula Renault 3.5,” exclaimed van Buuren. “It has taken a lot of work, on the track and outside them, to get to this point, and I want to thank all my sponsors and Pons Racing for their confidence.
“The intense testing programme of recent weeks has been extremely useful and the progress made lays a good ground to build upon. At Pons Racing I have found an extremely professional team and a perfect atmosphere. This will give us the possibility to plan things properly and proceed step by step. We have an exciting challenge ahead of us and I am thrilled about this opportunity!”
Pons Racing team boss Emilio de Villota was happy to announce the first driver for the forthcoming season, and was happy how he worked in the testing during the winter at Valencia, Aragon and Jerez.
“We are very happy to unveil the first part of our driver line-up and to have Meindert Van Buuren with us,” said de Villota. “Meindert is very young but he has shown talent and maturity in the three testing sessions conducted with us this winter, progressing steadily at every outing and working with the right attitude.
“We believe he has great potential that we will have the opportunity to develop over the near future. Pons Racing is delighted to have such a young talent in its ranks, and I am convinced Meindert can be among the top rookies as from this season.”
The announcement of the name of his team-mate will be announced in the next few days before the season begins next weekend.
