Ocean bets on Turvey and Caldarelli for GP2 Asia 2011

Ocean Racing Technology is betting on a pair of highly talented drivers to dispute the GP2 Asia Series 2011 championship. Oliver Turvey and Andrea Caldarelli will be two key elements of the Portuguese challenge and will be tasked with developing the new car before the GP2 Main Series. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes will be counting on two drivers from different cultures and with different experience, but who are both extremely fast and have had many single-seater successes over the past two years.

With one win, five podiums and one pole position, Olivier Turvey is one of the most competitive drivers GP2 has seen since 2009. The 23 year old British driver’s talent won him the position of development driver with Formula 1 team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. After a brilliant karting career, Olivier Turvey climbed the auto racing ranks and won an Autosport Award in 2006 and became one of the Racing Step Foundation’s protegee until last year; "I am very happy, that with my management, we have reached an agreement with Ocean, and would like to thanks one more time Tiago, his partners and the people who are backing me up for the Asian Championship" Oliver declared, "I feel totally ready and completely prepared for the challenge we have to face and I have big ambitions. I always race to win and I think we have everything we need to be competitive. We have four days of tests ahead of us, during which we will have to get to know the new car and the new tyres. Our objective will be to understand the package in order to build a solid foundation for what comes next. It will be a crucial phase but I am confident."

Alongside Oliver Turvey, rookie Andrea Caldarelli already has an impressive CV despite his young age. The 20 year-old Italian driver turned heads during the GP2 tests at Abu Dhabi in November 2010, when he finished in the top 6. In 2009, Andrea was a test driver with Toyota’s Formula 1 team, and in 2010 he racked up 3 wins, 5 podiums, and 2 pole positions in Italian Formula 3, where he finished the championship in 3rd place. "I am very happy and above all very motivated to race in the GP2 Asia Series with Ocean Racing Technology. I would like to thank my sponsors, as well as my family, without whom this adventure would not have been possible. I am certain that after the four days of tests ahead of us I will be very familiar with the team and its operating methods. I have started working with the engineers and the rest of the structure and I am confident because I know that we can do a good job and make progress," Andrea declared.

After many long months of constant work, Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes are confident that they have put together an excellent package for the 2011 season. "Honestly, we are very satisfied," said Tiago. "We have worked a great deal to reach a certain level and our ambition was to assign our cars to the best two drivers of the up-and-coming generation. With Oliver and Andrea, we will have the ideal driver package. The GP2 Series are becoming more and more competitive and tests will be crucial because we will have to learn to get to know the new car and develop it with an eye toward the GP2 Main Series."

Ocean Racing Technology and its drivers will spend four days driving in Abu Dhabi between February 1st and the 4th on the Yas Marina circuit in order to prepare for the first race to be held on the circuit on February 11th.