APRIL 5, 2007

GP2 field is complete

With 10 days to go before the first GP2 race of the season in Bahrain, the GP2 field for 2007 is complete with all 26 seats now filled. The field is a mixture of rising stars, pay-drivers and a number of F1 drivers who were not able to sustain their careers in Grand Prix racing and are trying to get back to F1 with success in GP2. Timo Glock (iSport International), Antonio Pizzonia (FMS International), Giorgio Pantano (Campos Grand Prix) and Sakon Yamamoto (BCN) are the men with the most experience and are to be expected to be at the front along with the likes of Michael Ammermuller and Lucas di Grassi (ART), Andreas Zuber (iSport) and the Arden pairing of Adrian Zaugg and Bruno Senna. Trident Racing is hoping to make an impression with Pastor Maldonado and Kohei Hirate, while Super Nova hopes that Mike Conway and Luca Filippi will help to revive the team's fortunes which have flagged in recent seasons.

DAMS too is looking for a revival and hopes that the highly experienced Nicolas Lapierre will finally make an impression and that young Kazuki Nakajima is a star in the making. DPR may not be as well funded as some of the opposition but it will be worth watching out for Christian Bakkerud and Andy Soucek, while the field will also feature China's Ho-Pin Tung, who is driving for BCN Competicion.

One man who is missing from the field is Ernesto Viso, who had been expected to be a major player. It will be interesting to see where he turns up.