JANUARY 6, 2009

ART looks to DNA as well as raw talent

Formula 3 Euroseries champions ART Grand Prix (which has won the title for the last five seasons in its different guises) has announced that it will be running four cars as usual in 2009.

Formula 3 Euroseries champions ART Grand Prix (which has won the title for the last five seasons in its different guises) has announced that it will be running four cars as usual in 2009. These will be driven by Jules Bianchi and three newcomers. Bianchi, the grandson and great-nephew of international racers Mauro and Lucien Bianchi, was a race winner in the series in 2008 and won the Masters of F3 at Zolder, and so starts the new season as the firm faavourite for the championship.

However, the rookies who will join are no slouches with Finland's Valtteri Bottas lining up alongside Mexico's Esteban Gutierrez and France's Adrien Tambay.

Bottas was the star of Formula Renault in 2008, winning both the Euroseries and Northern European Cup championship. The 17-year-old Gutierrez was a feisty frontrunner in Formula BMW Europe and won the title, although he was beaten to the World Final in Mexico City by Formula BMW Americas champion Alexander Rossi. Tambay, the son of former F1 star Patrick Tambay, was third in the Formula BMW Europe series.