2013 Auto GP racecar set for the early debut in Barcelona

The Auto GP Series will be back on-track at Barcelona in three weeks as the championship's teams are set to line-up at Circuit de Catalunya on the 6th and 7th of December. After having rounded out a successful 2012 season at Sonoma in the USA, the Coloni Motorsport-promoted series is not taking breaks and Enzo Coloni is determined in following the series' winning path for 2013.

We're almost ready for testing. What do you expect from Auto GP's trip to Barcelona?
"I expect to see a lot of drivers in the line-up as these tests are scheduled in a moment of the year that is free of other commitments for them. We will be running with our new car and we hope that the performance on-track will meet the feedback we had in the simulations. According to the first data, the car should be around 1.5 seconds faster than the current one. It's an ambitious goal, but I reckon it's an achievable one too".

How will you manage the work once on-track at Montmelo?
“The new car is ready at our headquarters and it will line-up alongside the others so we will have a direct term of comparison. We're going to test a lot of new solutions from a technical standpoint and also many different tire compounds. Two drivers were selected for the job: 2012 champion Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, who will give us a valuable starting feedback, and Luca Filippi, who will provide us with his sensibility and experience in order to guide us through the development stage".

Several graduates from Auto GP have lined-up for testing in other categories? How do you think they fared so far?
"I'm extremely satisfied with what the Auto GP graduates achieved so far. In GP2, Daniel de Jong scored some sensational lap times as well as Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. They have been into the top-10 all the time. Pal Varhaug turned a lot of laps and we will see him back in the upcoming GP2 tests at Jerez. Sergey Sirotkin left a pretty strong impression in the World Series Renault, while Facu Regalia went on-top in GP2 before scoring an 1-2 win in the last round of the F.3 Open. The Auto GP championship is still a major success in terms of driver development and in tough economic times like these this is a key aspect".

Can we expect more news for the 2012 season?
"We're working hard to finalize the schedule which will be confirmed in the next few weeks. There will be a couple of surprises but so far I can confirm that there will be eight rounds, one more than in 2012, and that we will be running on some of the best F.1-level venues. This will add up to the new car which is expected to be fast but also looks great. Our goal is to provide the drivers with an up-to-date package."