Daniël De Jong will return to the GP2 Series with Trident Racing this weekend in Bahrain.
De Jong was victim to a high-speed, heavy impact in Spa-Francorchamps earlier this season and suffered from broken vertebrae as a result of the incident.
After the incredible work of the FIA Medical Team in Belgium and working hard with Formula Medicine in Italy, the Dutchman will be able to return to the series at the penultimate round of the season at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“I really want to say a big thank you to all of the FIA medical staff, the marshals trackside and all of those at Spa who helped to look after me so well after such a huge accident,” commented De Jong, “Of course, I’d like to say a very special thank you to Dr. Ceccarelli and his team at Formula Medicine as they have helped me recover and return to GP2 much quicker than we expected. I had so many messages of support during my recuperation from fellow competitors and colleagues, and the GP2 organisers have been fantastic throughout. I really appreciate all of the kind wishes I have received and I’m really looking forward to Bahrain and being back on track.”
MP Motorsport, the 23-year-olds original team, have already got contracts in place for this weekend’s race with René Binder and Nicholas Latifi and as a result, De Jong will compete with Italian squad, Trident.
Although he will not compete with MP Motorsport this weekend, Team Principal Sander Dorsman commented on the return of De Jong: “…We are all so happy to see Daniël back to fill fitness and delighted our colleagues at Trident have been able to offer one of their seats to him.
None of us expected Daniël to make such a quick recovery, it surprised us all so much we had deals already in place with René and Nicholas for this weekend.”
The recovery time for De Jong after the incident has been just three months but with the help of Dr. Ceccarelli and the team at Formula Medicine, the Dutchman will see out the season.
“It is certainly going to be a unique experience with Daniël out there competing against the two MP Motorsport cars but it is also great to see him back,” concluded Dorsman.
Practice for this weekend’s event in Bahrain will get underway on Thursday before qualifying later that day.