Ashfords draft Driver Agreements for Future F1 Stars
Tuesday 25th January 2011
Ashfords Partner and sports law specialist Rory Mac Neice has advised long standing client Arden International on its recent driver signings for the 2011 GP2 Championship - the feeder series for F1.
At least nine drivers on this season's F1 grid will have graduated from GP2, including 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, last year's GP2 Champion Pastor Maldonado (who will be Rubens Barichello's teammate at Williams) and 2010 GP2 runner-up Sergio Perez (Sauber). Perez, along with fellow F1 drivers Heiki Kovalainen, Sebastien Buemi and Vitantonio Liuzzi, all drove for Ashfords' client Arden.
Formula Master frontrunner Josef Kral and F2 Vice-Champion Jolyon Palmer will both be joining the team for the GP2 Asia and GP2 Main Series in 2011.
GP2 Rookie, Great Britain's Jolyon Palmer (20) finished in second place in the FIA Formula 2 Championship last year, having dominated the early half of the season. He is the son of ex- Formula One driver Dr Jonathan Palmer, the Chief Executive of MotorSport Vision, which owns and operates Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Cadwell Park and Bedford Autodrome and is the commercial rights holder for the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship. MotorSport Vision also co-ordinates and operates the FIA Formula Two Championship.
Young Czech, Josef Kral (20), joins Arden International for his first full year in GP2, having had his season last year curtailed by a back injury. Josef took part in the F1 Rookie Test in Abu Dhabi last November.
Jolyon Palmer comments:
“I’m really excited to be joining the Arden GP2 Team for 2011, and I can’t wait for the season to start. It’s obviously going to be very tough, as indeed it should be, but I feel confident that two seasons of F2 have given me a very good grounding and I’m looking forward to rising to the challenge. Arden have tremendous experience and have had great success in the past, and I hope my performances will reward the faith they have showed in selecting me.”
Josef Kral comments:
“I am very happy to be part of Arden GP2 Team and I can´t wait to start working together. After such a difficult first season in GP2 season last year, when I missed some races because of a back injury, I hope that we can make up for it in 2011. After the test in Abu Dhabi where we showed that together we can be right on the top, I felt that this is the right decision. I am sure that Arden experience will be very helpful in the development of the new car and I will do my best to show that their choice was the right one.”
Arden International Team Manager, Richard Dent comments:
“We are very excited to secure Josef and Jolyon for both 2011 GP2 Championships. We have been watching Josef closely for some time and our confidence in him was increased when we tested him at the end of 2010. He showed us his technical feedback and pace, two skills that will help us with this third generation of GP2 car. We didn’t test Jolyon at the end of last year but watched with interest and we were impressed with what we saw. Now on Pirelli tyres, it promises to be another exciting season and with Josef and Jolyon on board I am sure Arden will be pushing hard in the Championship.”
Ashfords comments:
“We are delighted to have advised Arden in relation to the team's new signings. Josef and Jolyon are both young drivers with a great deal of talent, and I am sure that they and the team will have a very successful year. We have advised on GP2 Driver Agreements since the Championship began in 2005, and provide specialist legal advice to drivers, driver managers and teams at all levels of motorsport."
