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Kral and Ericsson with Super Nova Racing

"This season we have two very promising rookie drivers"

By

15 January 2010 - 11:30

Having finished third in the International Formula Masters championship last year with JD Motorsport Team, nineteen year old Czech driver Josef Král has continued to show great potential with Super Nova in the current GP2 Asia Series. The team are very happy to extend this association with Josef into the main series and believe the pairing with Marcus Ericsson will make for an interesting & competitive season.

No stranger to competing side by side Ericsson endured a season long battle with Král in the 2007 Formula BMW UK championship. The then sixteen year old driver from Sweden clinched the title by 40 points. More recently, last year, Marcus won the Japanese Formula Three championship and took the pole and finished 4th at the Macau Grand Prix, both with team TOM’s. Marcus did the first Asia race with ART but will do the next round with Super Nova.

Team Principal David Sears :
“Super Nova Racing has changed their policy. Last year we ran two veteran GP2 drivers, but this season we have two very promising rookie drivers. We saw ART Grand Prix doing this, and thought if they can we can too! GP2 is an established breeding ground for future F1 drivers, and it is great to be able to give these young drivers the opportunity at this high level of racing.

Marcus Ericsson in fact came and introduced himself as few years ago, and I was very impressed with his attitude even then. I have tracked both their driving careers with interest, and think with the Super Nova team, we have a promising season ahead of us. ”

Marcus Ericsson :
“I am really looking forward taking the step up from F3 to GP2 with Super Nova Racing and cannot wait to get going! I want to thank everyone in the team, in my management and sponsors who make this opportunity possible.

Part of the battle in racing is “gelling” with the team but Kenny Brack, part of my management, was very successful with Super Nova in F3000 in 1996 so it feels like family already, despite not having started yet.

I expect it to be a very tough season. GP2 have very limited track time and the cars are blindingly fast so it’s a lot to learn in very little time. But I did quite a few miles in GP2 and with the Brawn F1 team in the autumn of 2009 so I know what’s required and I feel more than ready for the challenge.

Josef, my team mate and I have had great battles in the past so I expect this to continue but hopefully we can also help the team to develop the car to keep us competitive overall”

Josef Král :
“We had a really good first round in GP2 Asia, although the cars are quite different to the Main Series, together with the Main Series test in Paul Ricard, its all good preparation. In France, we were sixth with only one day on track that was pretty good. My expectations are high, I obviously want to score very good points throughout the season, you need to because its so competitive, but other than that I don’t know what to expect! I just want to do as well as I can.

Racing again with Marcus will be good fun, like before, but I think it is a good opportunity for us both. We will push each other, and just see what happens.

I’m hoping GP2 will open a lot of new important contacts for me, obviously F1 depends on the results I get, but I’m a very much looking forward to the season ahead. ”