Canadian team owner joins F1 support series
Status GP, based near Silverstone in the UK, is one of 10 elite race teams to be selected to
compete in the pan-European championship established to identify Formula One™ stars of the future in 280hp turbocharged single-seater race cars. The GP3 Series races will be run in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators at seven Formula One™ events, including the long-standing British, German and Italian Grands Prix.
The 27-year-old Yip, from Vancouver, BC, is the majority shareholder of Status GP, which has shown its open-wheel championship pedigree by winning the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport title this year with its A1 Team Ireland entry, as well as previously scoring a race victory with the A1 Team Canada car. His team-ownership exploits are following in the footsteps of his father, Teddy Yip Sr, whose Theodore Racing team competed in Formula One™ from 1977 to 1983.
“We are thrilled to be taking part in this fantastic new series," said Yip Jr. “The GP3 Series will be fiercely competitive and is designed to give young drivers a great chance to progress their careers towards F1. We believe Status GP can provide the ideal environment for them to do that."
Robert Wickens, Canada’s fastest-rising young open-wheel star, previously raced with Status GP when he won for A1 Team Canada in Durban, South Africa in 2008. The 20-year-old believes the team’s arrival in GP3 is a boost for Canadian auto racing. “Canada has a great open-wheel heritage, but not so many drivers and teams at the top for fans to follow these days," said Wickens. “To have an added Canadian presence in and around Formula One™ is always good, and Status is a fantastic team which has all the ingredients to succeed in GP3."
The GP3 Series will complement the established GP2 Series, already proven as they key feeder series to Formula One™, and completes the ladder for young drivers to climb to the sport’s pinnacle by proving themselves in front of the F1 teams.
All GP3 teams will run three cars, which will ©be powered by identical 280bhp Renault turbo engines in chassis built by famed Italian company Dallara, whose designs have also won the last five Indianapolis 500 races. The eight-event GP3 Series season commences at Formula One’s™ first European race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix in May, while the finale will be the sole non-Formula One™ event, with GP3 on the racecard alongside GP2 at Portimao, Portugal in September.
Status Grand Prix continues to assess leading junior single-seater drivers to spearhead its championship assault, and announcements on its line-up and other exciting developments for the team will be released in the coming weeks.