All change in GP2: Coletti to Rapax and Filippi to Coloni for Monza

Coletti sparks a frenetic series of driver changes prior to this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix!

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6 September 2012 - 13:55
All change in GP2: Coletti to Rapax and

As the GP2 Series gears up for the penultimate round of this highly entertaining season, there has been several driver changes as Stefano Coletti has left Coloni for Rapax, whereas Coloni have been able to secure former GP2 driver Luca Filippi for what should be an enthralling weekend of GP2 action.

The catalyst in this frenetic series of driver changes came when Stefano Coletti quit racing for Coloni, a team who themselves will leave the GP2 Series at the end of the season after an alleged “disagreement between Coloni Motorsport and the GP2 Organization”. This sees Coletti replaced Daniël de Jong at Rapax, who himself had initially replaced Riccardo Teixeira and then Tom Dillmann several races beforehand at the same outfit.

This left Coloni one driver short, and they therefore called upon the services of former runner-up of the Series, Luca Filippi. The 27-year-old Italian driver drove for Coloni last season, winning three races including the feature race at the Italian Grand Prix. Coloni will unquestionably be striving to repeat such success, however their recent run of form makes such a result seem highly unlikely.

"We did a great job together last year, and frankly I would have expected Luca to be contacted by some manufacturer for a works programme this season," explained team owner, Paolo Coloni. “It didn’t happen, and so we thought that an all Italian line-up for our home race would have been the best thing to do. With Filippi and Onidi, Coloni is reassessing its role of sole Italian team that helps national talents to get under the spotlight."

Luca Filippi initially quit the GP2 Series after last season, to try and start a career in the American IZOD IndyCar Series. The Italian driver was rumored to drive for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, and would have teamed up with former F1 driver, Takuma Sato. However, the deal fell through, and Filippi was left frustrated and without a drive for the 2012 season. Expect Luca Filippi to return to GP2 with a bang this weekend, as the Italian driver naturally strives for an immediately competitive result once the track action gets underway this weekend at Monza.

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