Di Grassi to be main Renault tester in 2008

(GMM) Lucas di Grassi will be Renault's primary test driver this season, the French team confirmed on Thursday.

At the launch of the outfit's 2008 campaign in south-west Paris, it emerged that di Grassi, the 23-year-old Brazilian who finished second in last year's GP2 championship, will "conduct the majority of the team's development work" alongside racers Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr this season.

It was previously announced that French-Swiss rookie Romain Grosjean, the reigning 2007 F3 Euroseries champion, would become Renault's test driver in 2008.

A Renault team statement on Thursday, however, clarified that the 21-year-old will get his "first taste of F1 at a number of tests during the year" while continuing to contest the GP2 series.