While Sonoma, the final round of the season and the first USA race in Auto GP history, is approaching, for the championship staff it’s already time to focus on next year as the technical department of Coloni Motorsport is working on a major technical update for the Series machinery.

The areas touched by the update will be so many that the outcome could be considered a new car in many ways, and surely a much quicker one: the 2013 Auto GP will be on average 1”5 per lap quicker than the current one, an improvement that will bring it on a par with the top feeder championships in motorsport.

“We want to give our drivers an even better tool to prepare themselves for the leap to Formula 1” said series organizer Enzo Coloni.

“The talents taking part in our Series are already facing many of the challenges they’ll find in F1: we have pit-stops, three different tyre compounds, an overboost system that can get them used to kers, and this performance upgrade will bring their driving style even closer to the one they’ll have to adopt on an F1 car. What we are unveiling today is a first preview that shows the major changes that have already been given the green light but our technical staff is still working on the tiniest details and on some other interesting solutions. The first final car should be ready for the first days of November and its testing debut is planned for a collective test that we are scheduling for early December”.

The updated car will be one of the key features of a 2013 season that will see the Championship grow further, with a calendar consisting in 16 races and 4 days of official testing.