Tag: Sergio Canamasas

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F2 Open Wheel

Deletraz, de Vries, Merhi in New Seats For Belgium

Fitting into new surroundings will be a theme of the Belgian Formula 2 round as three drivers find themselves with different teams.

Monaco Sprint winner Nyck de Vries moves to Racing Engineering to partner Gustav Malja.

The McLaren junior racer has finished on the podium four times since graduating from GP3 and is in eighth in the drivers’ championship with 72 points.

“Perhaps this move is a surprise in the middle of the season, but I am very excited to join Racing Engineering,” he said. “We have been in touch since 2015, and it is great to finally get the chance to work together as they have a very high level of professionalism and a great track record. I hope we will be able to turn around their momentum and score the successes they have always had.”

Louis Deletraz swaps with the Dutchman, going to Rapax, where Roberto Merhi joins him for the weekend.

Deletraz claimed his only point last time out in Hungary’s feature after a post-race penalty. He has completed all-but-one event, out–qualified Malja 4-3, but the Swede outperformed him 8-4 in the 12 races they have both finished and scored 27 more points.

Sergio Canamasas – who has been at the team since moving from Trident for Austria – said on Twitter that he is currently having ‘personal issues’ preventing him from competing.

Merhi previously made his F2 debut in Spain for Campos, having a best result of 12th in the sprint contest.

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F2 Open Wheel

Driver Changes Continue in F2

Formula 2’s habit of not having the same drivers come to two straight events in 2017 continues in Austria.

Former GP2 race winner Raffaele Marciello is making his F2 debut this weekend, replacing Sergio Canamasas at Trident.

Marciello joins Nabil Jeffri at the Italian team, piloting its No. 17 machine.

The Italian appeared at Trident in the second of his three GP2 seasons in 2015, claiming four podiums, and has also tested for the team.

He has competed in the Blancpain GT Series in 2017 for the AKKA ASP Mercedes team, finishing in the top-three twice in the Sprint series and once in the Endurance category.

“I’m really proud to be back working with Trident after the really positive experience in 2015,” Marciello said. “They proved both competitive and professional throughout the years, a real benchmark in motorsport. I look forward to my contribution to strengthening the team even further.”

Marciello claimed three podiums in the past at the Red Bull Ring, a figure only equalled by Stoffel Vandoorne.

Change for Canamasas

Canamasas moves to Rapax to replace Johnny Cecotto in its No. 19 car, partnering Nyck de Vries.

Rapax is the seventh team Canamasas is racing for in the last six seasons of GP2 or F2.

The Spaniard’s score of three points from the first four rounds of a year is his worst since driving for Caterham in 2013.

Cecotto collected 16 points in the first four rounds, 29 less than de Vries, who outraced him on all four occasions that both finished an event. His former Dutch teammate also out-qualified him four times.

Albon’s Comeback

ART’s Alexander Albon is also returning for this weekend after missing the last round in Azerbaijan with a collarbone injury sustained in training.

Albon is the one competitor left to have scored in each race started after Luca Ghiotto was caught up in the Baku feature chaos and Jordan King was disqualified from fourth after the last sprint session.

He still places in the top-10 of the Drivers’ Championship, level on 37 points with ninth-place King.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of PopularSpeed.com, its owners, management or other contributors. Any links contained in this article should not be considered an endorsement.

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F2 Open Wheel

Canamasas Set For 91st and 92nd Start in Bahrain

Another seat has been filled on the Formula 2 grid as teams prepare to begin their season this weekend.

Sergio Canamasas is set to move up to 92 career GP2/F2 starts as he races for Trident alongside Nabil Jeffri in Bahrain.

The 28-year-old Spaniard announced on Twitter that he would fill the seat after spending six pre-season days testing last month.

“I will be in Bahrain this weekend to start the championship of F2 with Trident racing,” his tweet says when translated into English. “Thank you all for your support!”

Canamasas finished testing with the 17th fastest time overall in Barcelona and Bahrain, leading Jeffri in eight of 12 sessions.

He is currently the second-most experienced driver on the grid behind Rapax’s Johnny Cecotto Jr. (118 entries) having raced in five seasons since making his debut in 2012.

His sporadic career has taken him to Venezuela GP Lazarus (twice), Caterham, Trident, MP Motorsport, Hilmer Motorsport, and Carlin.

Canamasas’ best career result came for Trident with second in 2014’s Monaco sprint race, but he scored points just four times last year.

EMAIL CAMERON AT @cpatersonf1@gmail.com

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The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of PopularSpeed.com, its owners, management or other contributors. Any links contained in this article should not be considered an endorsement.

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F2 Open Wheel

Canamasas Makes Trident Return for Barcelona Test

Another name with a large experience of junior formulae has become the final driver added to the list of drivers beginning Formula 2’s pre-season test.

Sergio Canamasas will make his return to the Trident team in the first test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on March 13-15.

The Spanish driver partners Nabil Jeffri at the team with its second seat standing as the last one remaining empty on the F2 grid.

It will be Canamasas’ first drive in the series’ GP2-11 chassis since racing in the then-GP2 Series in Abu Dhabi last November. He did not take part in post-season testing last December, with the currently unattached Philo Paz Armand testing for all three days of the test for the team.

Canamasas previously made 19 starts for Trident during the 2014 season as part of his 90 appearances in the series between 2012 and 2016.

Team manager Giacomo Ricci believes that having someone in the car with this amount of knowledge of the GP2-11 chassis is key for their development before the start of the new F2 season.

“We completed an impressive amount of work during the winter break, he said. “The three-day test on such a technical track like Montmelo will be key to evaluate some of the technical solutions we identified in the past weeks.

“We will also count on the experience and undisputed professionalism of Sergio Canamasas to start the season with the best possible outlook.”

DOWN TO 10

Meanwhile, only 10 teams are appearing at the test despite Hilmer Motorsport’s previously-announced intention to return to Formula 1’s feeder series in 2017.

The team – which competed in GP2 from 2013 to 2015, with Canamasas as one of their drivers in their final season – had outlined plans to return to racing last November.

EMAIL CAMERON AT @cpatersonf1@gmail.com

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The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of PopularSpeed.com, its owners, management or other contributors. Any links contained in this article should not be considered an endorsement.