Although the 2011 Series finished two weeks ago at Monza, the GP2 teams are not resting and they will all be meeting again at the Spanish track of Jerez on the 28th and 29th of this month for an official test session to give the teams an opportunity to test new and up-and-coming drivers.
The 4.428km Circuito de Jerez is located near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in South-western Spain and for Racing Engineering it is their home track as they are based at nearby Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Formerly the location for both the Spanish and European F1 Grand Prix Jerez is a very popular location for testing during the winter months.
The two days of testing will see the Racing Engineering team running three drivers in their two cars; Fabio Leimer will drive on both days and the other car will be driven by Rodolfo González on day one and Rupert Svendsen-Cook on day two.
The 21 year-old Swiss Fabio Leimer has come up through Formula BMW, Formula Renault and International Formula Master racing and he already has plenty of GP2 experience having made his debut in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series. His first GP2 race win came in the 2010 GP2 Series when he won the Barcelona Sprint Race and, after finishing 5th in the 2010-11 GP2 Asia Series, he won the same again in the 2011 GP2 Series. A number of consistent race results followed and he finished the season with an excellent second place to race winner, Racing Engineering’s Christian Vietoris, at the final race of the year at Monza.
25 year-old Venezuelan Rodolfo González’s career path has taken him through Formula Renault, and both the British and European F3 Championships. Although he made his GP2 debut in the third round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series circumstances dictated it would be 2010 before he had a full season in a GP2 chassis. In his two seasons of racing in the GP2 series González has yet to score a podium place but he has shown that he has the potential to be a front runner.
British driver Rupert Svendsen-Cook has just celebrated his 21st birthday and having shown a lot of promise in the junior formulae this will be his first outing in a GP2 car. Of Norwegian heritage Svendsen-Cook raced very successfully in karts before moving up to Formula BMW and then, in 2010, he entered the British F3 Championship taking a win and four podiums in his first season. Continuing in the same series for 2011 the young Briton has scored another win and five podiums and is lying 6th in the Championship with two rounds still left to run.
Following their successful 2011 GP2 Series where they finished 3rd in the Team Championship Racing Engineering are looking forward to giving the three drivers an opportunity to have a run in their race winning cars.