Scuderia Coloni defined their 2012 line-up, with Stefano Coletti and Fabio Onidi taking the driving duties for the coming GP2 Season.
Both were confirmed by the Italian squad’s Team Principal, Paolo Coloni, after their convincing showings during the winter time: Stefano and Fabio respectively claimed the top spots in the official testing in Barcelona and Jerez, and Coletti then raced with the team in the Abu Dhabi GP2 Finale, again boasting some impressive performances.
Besides this, the ambitions of both drivers are backed by very solid CVs: the Italo-Monégasque Coletti, a 22 years-old, will be at his second season in GP2 and in 2011 he clinched three wins (Abu Dhabi in GP2 Asia, Istanbul and Budapest in the Main Series) despite being a rookie, confirming the talent that he had already showed earlier in his career.
On the other hand Onidi will be at his GP2 debut but he has plenty of experience on powerful machinery, being a race winner both in Auto GP (in 2011 he took success in Monza and podiums in Valencia and Mugello) and Euroseries 3000, where he ended just shy of the title both in 2008 and 2009. This means that he’s ready to step into the best F1 feeder-series in motorsport and to fight
against the best drivers around.
So everything is in place for the team to start the new season on the same amazing performance level boasted in 2011, when Scuderia Coloni became the performance benchmark of the Series.
Paolo Coloni: “I have many reasons to be happy today. We are heading towards the start of the season with a promising and competitive line-up, with two drivers that impressed us by how quickly they got acquainted with the team and the car in the winter testing, immediately securing a spot among the front runners. We were following them with a great deal of attention last year already: Stefano managed to be GP2’s best rookie despite missing two race weekends due to his back injury in Spa, while Fabio showed with his results and consistency that he’s ready for the huge leap to GP2.
Furthermore, I’m really proud that once more we are fielding an all-Italian duo, again showing that giving young talents from our Country a chance to shine is a priority for us. With such premises our expectations are obviously high, we know that we have what it takes to be successful and we aim to show that right from the start”.
Stefano Coletti: “I’m really happy of this agreement with Scuderia Coloni for the next GP2 season, and first of all I’d like to say thanks to Paolo and the whole Coloni family for that: we started talking immediately after the end of the 2011 Championship and they made me understand that I was an important part of their project. 2012 will be a key year in my career, so I did put a lot of thinking on this choice, as I wanted to be sure that the decision was the right one for my future.
Right from the first test I did with Coloni I had an excellent feeling with the car, the engineers and the whole staff, they are focused and their approach to the race weekend is aggressive, something that I really like. I’m looking forward to the first testing sessions and the start of the season, as the 2012 calendar is really fascinating. I’m also happy to have Fabio Onidi racing alongside me. He’s a good guy and a skilled driver, we raced against each other in karting and in some other occasions and I’m sure that with him it will be very easy to create an atmosphere of cooperation”.
Fabio Onidi: “GP2 has been one of my aims in the latest seasons, so being finally part of it is a really good feeling, the first achievement of 2012 for me. Besides this, I’m really happy to do that with Scuderia Coloni. The feeling with the team was immediate, and the same was with the car, allowing us to be really quick in the Jerez testing. I would have liked to race with them in Abu Dhabi but in the end it wasn’t possible, so now I’m really looking forward to the first commitments of the 2012 season. I’m pretty confident, but at the same time I know that for a driver the debut year in GP2 can be a tough one: that’s why I’m really pushing to be ready, both working with Scuderia Coloni’s simulator at their HQ and obviously at the gym with the physical preparation. I want to be in the best possible shape when the championship starts, and the next three months will be vital for that”.