Romanian Robert Visoiu will be starting his third season of the GP3 Series in Barcelona when he lines up again for Arden International, the team that took him to two wins last year. For the first time in his career, he will be remaining with the same team for a second consecutive season.
Visoiu won the reverse grid races in both Valencia and Hungary in 2013, and ultimately ended the season twelfth in the championship, having finished 2012 in fourteenth for Jenzer Motorsport. He will be aiming for an even better season for 2014 and will be hoping to qualify well and win more races.
“It’s my third consecutive GP3 season, but only the second with this car,” said Visoiu to The Checkered Flag. “As a matter of fact, it’s the first season in my career in which I’ll start in the same car as in the year before, so I’m really confident because I know the car, the team and most of the track very well.
“Arden are a really professional team with a great environment and I’ve evolved a lot with them. I am sure now that we know each other this well and we understand what we have to improve I will be in a good position for 2014.
“Continuity is a key facto for success. In my first season with Arden I learned a lot from them and they understood how I am like. In the end chemistry is really important and when you add professionalism in the equation, you will get good results.”
For 2014, Visoiu has swapped the Red Bull backed duo of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr for long-time Jenzer Motorsport driver Patric Niederhauser and Nissan GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough, and he acknowledged “I think they’re both really fast and that’s always a good thing because it will keep me on my toes. As proven with Daniil and Carlos last season, I think I can be fast when I have fast team-mates.
“I have a great relationship with Patric, who is one of my friends in the paddock. He’s fast, determined, has a lot of experience and is a great guy. I don’t know Jann as well, but I’ve followed his career and I like what he has achieved. I think we’ll make a great team and we’ll boost each other’s performance. That’s always a good thing!”
Looking ahead to the new season, the Romanian was reserved when discussing his hopes for the year, but believes he will be better in 2014 than last year. He admits that despite his young age – he doesn’t turn nineteen until next February – he has learned a lot about how to drive a racing car.
“I won’t say big words, because it’s easy to talk the talk, but I’ll have to also walk the walk. What I will say is that I feel I’ll be faster than last season and that this year I have to prove some extra things to myself and to those who believe in me. I will be fighting hard and will do my best to come out on top!
“I’ve evolved a lot and thinking back to my start in single seaters I must say I’m a totally different driver now, but I still have to learn a lot of new and exciting things and this always pushes me and keeps me alert. It’s quite fun, to be honest… but it’s a lot of work as well.
“I feel it’s important to be eager to learn and to understand more and more about how things work and where you can improve. I trust that 2014 will be even better than 2013. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that!”
