Season 2008 - Super Nova confirm line-up

Eurosport - Fri, 08 Feb 12:32:00 2008

Super Nova have signed Christian Bakkerud and Alvaro Parente for their assault on this season's GP2 Series.

GP2 2007 2007 Testing Christian Bakkerud DPR - 0

Danish driver Bakkerud, 23, will be starting his second year in the series, and his hoping for a big improvement after his maiden season with DPR was ruined by ongoing back problems that forced him to miss a few races.

He said: "This is a great day for me and it vindicates the hard work which has been put in by myself and the Super Nova team in winter testing."

"There is mutual admiration and a belief that together we can achieve strong results and mount a sustained challenge for the GP2 main series title."

Bakkerud, who began his career in the German and British Formula BMW Championships, was a race-winner in British Formula Three in 2006 before graduating to GP2 last year.

A blend of injuries and unreliability conspired to leave him without a point - three 12th places being his best race result.

Super Nova boss David Sears though, believes that he can be the one to tap into Bakkerud's potential and said: "We are really pleased to have finalised a deal with Christian for the GP2 series.

"We believe that we can really work well together to achieve better results than Christian did last season. He has recovered from his back problems and seems genuinely a lot happier than before and we are pleased he is on board for the GP2 Asia series as well which gives us all a chance for sustained improvement."

"We see Christian as a good team player and together with his new team mate, Portuguese racer Alvaro Parente, we think they will compliment each other and drive the team forward to achieve good results in the forthcoming 2008 season."

Parente, 23, made his car debut in Formula Three in Spain in 2001, and spent five years in the Formula before claiming the 2005 British title in dominant fashion.

He steps into GP2 as the reigning Renault World Series champion, and also became the first Portuguese to drive a Formula One car since Tiago Monteiro two years ago when he tested for Renault at Jerez last month.

Jamie O'Leary / Eurosport