Scuderia Coloni announces that James Jakes will drive for the team, starting with the GP2 Asia first event on February 11-12 in Abu Dhabi. A 23 years-old from Leeds, Jakes already proved his talent in various categories: Achieving 3rd in the UK F.Renault Championship and a race winner and in the F.3 Euro Series, notably the 2007 Pau Grand Prix. He immediately grabbed podium finishes in his debut GP2 Asia season, confirming his potential in both GP2 and GP3 throughout 2010. James has already raced with Scuderia Coloni in Abu Dhabi, contesting the GP2 Main Series last event in November, and ten days later he had a very successful test day with the Italian team, topping the sheets with nearly a half second gap to the competition. After such a positive experience both parties expressed the will to go on with the co-operation and worked together to make this possible. With Jakes driving alongside Michael Herck, Scuderia Coloni has completed its very fast driver line-up and should achieve regular podiums and challenge for the championship.
Paolo Coloni: “We are very happy of having James with us. We already knew that he was one of the most interesting talents around, but we where amazed by his progression in Abu Dhabi. He learned a lot in the race weekend, and this proved to be very useful for the following testing session. Furthermore, he had an instant feeling with the team, getting along really well with the engineers and all the guys. Working together was a pleasure, and as a consequence we managed to give him a car that he really liked: then he did the rest with some great driving, boasting a staggering pace. We were looking forward to having him with us for the season, and I feel really satisfied because I think that we have a very competitive line-up for the coming season”.
James Jakes: “After missing some of last season with my hand injury, I was really pleased to get into the GP2 car at Abu Dhabi. It was a great opportunity to re set myself for the real physical effort needed to drive these cars competitively. At the next Abu Dhabi test day the following week, the team really came together for me, we made some changes identified during the race weekend and the car was very good, it was great to be top of the time sheet. We had discussions with a number of other teams, but recognizing the skill and enthusiasm existing at Scuderia Coloni this year, I felt they were the best option for me. Asia will be very different challenge this year with the new car and new tyre. It will be very important to get a good platform for the main season and I look forward to this challenge”.
Lauda Sport Management: “We are delighted to see that Scuderia Coloni will enter 2011 with such an impressive line-up as we just started this cooperation. This seems very promising for the future”.