The Adrian Vallés-led AV Formula team has announced its driver line-ups for their 2016 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and NEC championship campaigns.
The Spanish outfit will once again be led by Harrison Scott in Eurocup, who was the leading rookie in 2015 and finished a season’s best second at Silverstone, while the British driver will be joined by Swiss driver Darius Oskoui and Portuguese driver Henrique Chaves.
“I am extremely happy to be returning to Formula Renault Eurocup 2.0 with Adrian and the team,” said Scott. “We built a strong relationship during the team’s first Eurocup season which led to my Rookie Championship title, so it will be great to be back in the car with my engineer at Motorland next weekend for my first test of the year.
“I’m ready to face new challenges such as circuits like Monaco; they shall help me grow as a driver and develop my racing. With the team’s expertise in single seater racing, I know we have a strong chance of winning the 2016 Eurocup Championship.”
Oskoui raced for the ART Junior Team in 2015, securing a podium himself at Motorland Aragon on his way to twelfth place in the championship, nine points back on Scott.
“I am very happy to be driving for AV Formula in 2016,” insisted Oskoui. “We have tested once together and it went very well. Concerning their performance, I am confident that they will provide a car quick enough to fight with the front-runners.
“They have experience in Formula Renault 2.0, they are determined and know their job well. The atmosphere in the team is great as well, which is always important.
“As for my part, I am motivated and feel confident that we will fight at the top. Let’s hunt for wins together!”
Chaves competed as a wildcard entry for the team in three events last year at Motorland Aragon, Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring, securing a best finish of sixteenth in the final race in Spain.
“I’m really looking forward to the start of the season,” said Chaves. “I hope this year brings good results for me as well for the team, because I know that together we are strong and capable of reaching success.”
Oskoui and Chaves will also form part of the line-up in the Northern European Cup championship for the Spanish outfit, and will be joined by Russian Nerses Isaakyan and Polish star Julia Pankiewicz.
Adrian Vallés feels he has a good squad of drivers to compete in the two Formula Renault 2.0-litre categories in 2016, and believes they could fight for championship honours.
“We are really happy and proud to announce our full driver line up for the 2.0 series’ in 2016,” said Vallés. “We think we have great drivers, starting with Henrique Chaves who raced with us last year and is doing a full programme in 2016 Eurocup and NEC.
“We would like to welcome Nerses Isaakyan to AVF, a young Russian talent joining us from F4 who will compete in the NEC along with Julia Pankiewicz. It will be nice to have a girl in the team again; it shows our commitment to the careers of young female drivers.
“Darius was runner up in the 2015 Rookie Eurocup championship and we believe that he’ll be a good challenger for both the NEC and Eurocup titles this year. Harrison did a really great job for us last year in Eurocup; we won the Rookie title and showed that the team had made a massive step forward with him. We look forward to seeing what this season brings for us both!
“The target for our three drivers in the Eurocup this year is to challenge the top five contenders in every race – we have the potential. Henrique did a great job during end of year testing; everyone in the team is really motivated and will be giving all our drivers the best we can in 2016.”
