Kevin Ceccon won’t be the sole Auto GP driver to test a GP2 car in Jerez. In the two-day test that is due to start tomorrow, other four stars of the Series will look for a chance to shine: Luca Filippi and Fabio Onidi will go on track with Scuderia Coloni, while Rio Haryanto and Giovanni Venturini will drive for French team DAMS.
For Filippi this test won’t just be the chance to continue the winning cooperation with the Italian team, but also a good training for the Auto GP grand finale: it will be very important because just after the test, from 1st October, Luca will be in Mugello to fight for the drivers’ title. It won’t be an easy task as he is 15 points adrift from the top, but being in such a great shape he can’t be ruled out yet.
The Italian will be flanked at Scuderia Coloni by Fabio Onidi: 23 years old from Milan, in the last two seasons Onidi has been one of the main actors on the Auto GP scene, clinching one win and five podium finishes. Considering that he was vice-champion of Euroseries 3000 in 2008, Fabio has repeatedly proved his talent in the last four seasons and this test will be the right opportunity to showcase his skills in the best F1 feeder series.
Venturini boasted a stunning debut in Auto GP, taking both pole and a Race 1 win in the Monza opening round, then clinching another win in Oschersleben and a podium finish in Budapest. For him there will be no better way of getting his first contact with GP2 than driving for DAMS, in the championship winning car of Romain Grosjean.
The French team will also put Rio Haryanto behind the wheel of their GP2 car: the young Indonesian, just 18 years old, is part of their Auto GP line-up from the very start of the season and steadily improved throughout 2011. Always in the top spots in the last race weekends and already a double race winner in GP3 Rio took his maiden Auto GP success, a dominant one, in Valencia, so it’s no surprise that DAMS decided to test him on the GP2 car. Enzo Coloni: “I’m really happy to see that some of the best drivers in Auto GP are progressing quickly towards GP2. I’m also happy to see that they will all get the chance to work with two outfits that actually are the performance benchmarks of the series. This means that the high competitivity of the Auto GP field is appreciated at the highest levels of motorsport, and confirms that racing in Auto GP can open some very interesting opportunities for young talents”.
