The 2012 and 2013 New Zealand Grand Prix winner, Nick Cassidy is joining the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup ranks in Motorland, Spain with the AV Formula team, for the first round of the 2013 Eurocup Series.
AV Formula is based in Granollers, close to the Barcelona circuit and was founded by former Spanish racing driver Adrián Vallés, and currently fields a two car team in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Series for Arthur Pic and Jan Cunha; and a two car team in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for Victor Sendin and Fran Rueda.
Renault Sport has granted the team an entry for the Motorland Eurocup race where they will run Cassidy as a wild card the first of their home races.
Most of the Eurocup teams and drivers have completed the full Formula Renault winter test programme permitted before the season opener, whereas Cassidy will have his first taste of the new Formula Renault 2.0 in next week, which will make it a challenging weekend for the young Kiwi and his new team.
Cassidy is looking forward to the challenge at Motorland despite not having driven the 2013 Formula Renault chassis, “I know I’ll be in at the deep end, and that the new car will take a bit of getting used to, but the opportunity to race with AV Formula who have great ambitions is too good to pass up. I like the circuit and it will be good to get back into race mode.”
AV Formula Team Principal, Adrian Valles has offered Nick the drive after following his performances in the Toyota Racing Series this year, “I have been watching Nick’s performances for some time and his TRS performances really impressed me and convinced me that his race-craft and technical feed-back would make him a real asset to have in our team. We’re looking forward to working with Nick in Motorland and to an exciting weekend.”
Since wrapping up the 2013 Toyota Racing Series, Cassidy has tested with the Marussia Manor Gp3 team and the new 400 bhp Dallara chassis at Estoril, Barcelona and Silverstone, where he was immediately on the pace.
