Yas Marina YDT: Prost, Mortara and Valsecchi get Lotus test

Nicolas Prost, Edoardo Mortara and Davide Valsecchi will join Lotus F1 Team for the Abu Dhabi young driver test, which will take place following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit next month.

The running order for the Lotus F1 Team drivers over the course of the three day test is as follows :

— Tuesday 6th November : Nicolas Prost
— Wednesday 7th November : Edoardo Mortara
— Thursday 8th November : Davide Valsecchi

Nicolas Prost: “I’m really looking forward to driving for Lotus F1 Team at a test in this year’s car, which we have all seen to be strong at so many Grands Prix this year. It’s a great honour for me as a driver and I want to do the very best job I can to assist the team with development, as well as giving good feedback for any future projects.”

Edoardo Mortara: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to join Lotus F1 Team and especially to be driving the E20 on track in Abu Dhabi. I can’t wait to be in action and working with a team which is performing so well this season and has such good prospects for the future. Contributing to the team’s programme is likely to be highly rewarding ; I’m eager to learn from the experience and highlight my potential.”

Davide Valsecchi: “For me this is a great honour, as I am eager to showcase my talents and demonstrate that I am ready to take the next step in my career after winning the GP2 Series. Lotus F1 Team is a great team with a superb group of engineers, so it’s great to be getting out on track with them in Abu Dhabi.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “I think we have a great line-up of drivers to work with the team in Abu Dhabi and it will be very interesting for us to see how they stack-up ; especially as we will have all the data from the Grand Prix which takes place the week before. Nicolas we know well from his existing work with the team, while Edoardo and Davide are new to us so it should be a productive three days ; not just for the drivers, but also the team as we evaluate new parts on the car for our final push at the last two races of the season.”

Driver Details :

Nicolas Prost [Born 18/08/1981] Nicolas Prost – son of four-time Formula 1 World Champion Alain – has just won the FIA World Endurance Trophy with Rebellion Racing and currently sits 3rd in the overall driver classification. He also finished as top privateer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2011 / 2012, and has recently claimed overall victory in the prestigious Petit Le Mans race. Prior to that, Nicolas Prost clinched the 2008 Formula 3000 Euroseries title, took 3rd place in the 2007 Spanish Formula 3 Championship and competed for Team France in the 2008-2009 A1GP series.

Edoardo Mortara [Born 12/01/1987] Swiss-born, dual French and Italian nationality holding Edoardo Mortara is the only driver to have won the Macau Grand Prix twice, in a racing career which has included taking the Formula Three Euroseries title in 2010. He has just finished in fifth position in the 2012 DTM championship standings.

Davide Valsecchi [Born 24/01/1987] Reigning GP2 Series Champion Davide Valsecchi has previously tested Formula 1 cars for two other teams, including driving during a Friday practice session at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. In addition to his 2012 GP2 Series title, the Italian also clinched the 2009-2010 GP2 Asia Series Championship as well as contesting races in Auto GP and the Le Mans Series.