ART Grand Prix has announced their pleasure in re-signing Nobuharu Matsushita for their 2017 campaign. The Japanese driver returns for his third season in GP2, all of which have been fought with the French squad.

Matsushita picked up a win and 3 podiums over his maiden season in 2015, and took another win and 2 podiums last year in a more consistent season, collecting 23.5 points more than on debut. The team noted that the Japanese driver took his work with the team to a new level, improving his technical skills, as well as tyre and qualifying management, and are confident that he will build on his two successful years to help the team in their fight for the championship.

Matsushita Said: "I am happy to be able to race in GP2 Series again, and very honoured to work with ART Grand Prix for a third consecutive season. It is a fantastic team that helped me to settle in a brand new environment back in 2015 but also allowed me to grow as a driver and to secure a win and several podiums during my first year in the series."

"I hope I will be able to bring them more wins this season and to help them to fight for the championship. I would like to thank Honda for continuously giving me this great opportunity. I am ready to make this season a great one. I cannot wait for the season to start."

Sébastien Philippe: "ART Grand Prix is delighted to extend its partnership with Nobuharu. Since his first steps in GP2 in Europe, he showed how dedicated and motivated he is and that he can adapt very quickly to a new culture and working environment."

"Our collaboration has been very fruitful ever since his first year in the team with Nobu securing two wins, one being a prestigious victory in Monaco, as well as numerous podiums over last two years. He ended last year on a high with a podium in Yas Marina and I’m sure he will take it from there to start this season with the same momentum and to be a regular front runner and championship contender."

Pertamina Arden announced they have finalized its 2017 GP2 Series line-up with the signing of Indonesian Sean Gelael, who will partner Frenchman Norman Nato.
Gelael is an experienced racing driver as he has competed in multiple disciplines including the single-seater series and Endurance.

The twenty year old scored his first GP2 podium last year in Austria and will definitely be looking for more this season.
Sean Gelael says: “I am really pleased to join Pertamina Arden this year. It’s a very experienced team who has shown consistency through the seasons. The post-season test in Abu Dhabi went well so it was obvious to keep working together for the 2017 season."

"Last year helped me to learn more about GP2 so my goal for this year is to be a front-runner in every race and I can’t wait to get started."

"Norman will be a strong teammate with all of his experience and I’m happy to team up with him.”
Nato, who has two seasons of GP2 experience under his belt is back with the British squad with whom he was racing with in 2015.

After two wins and five podiums last season with Racing Engineering, the Frenchman is looking to build on a strong performance for this campaign.
Norman Nato says: “I am very happy to join the Jagonya Ayam family and to re-join Arden this season for the GP2 Series. It is where I made my debut in GP2 so it’s great to be back again."

"Last year was a strong season for me so I’m really optimistic we can do a good job with Sean and the team. The aim is to put our experiences together in order to be competitive and to fight for wins and points at every race.”
Kenny Kirwan – Pertamina Arden Team Manager says: “The whole team is very excited to welcome Sean into the team for the coming season. He settled in very quickly with us in post-season testing last year and we were very impressed by his performance, feedback and his professional approach to his driving."

"It’s also great to welcome Norman back to the team. We’ve made some big steps forward over the winter and with the changes we have made to the relevant areas of the team, combined with signing an extremely strong driver pairing in both Sean and Norman I believe we can take the title fight to our rivals in what will be another very strong, competitive and exciting championship."

DAMS team signed Nicholas Latifi and Oliver Rowland for an assault on the 2017 GP2 championship.

Jean-Paul Driot’s Le Mans-based outfit have established themselves as one of the premier teams in the Formula 1 feeder series, winning three drivers’ titles, two teams’ titles and a total of 25 races since the championship’s inception in 2005.

After ranking fifth in the teams’ standings last year, taking three race victories, the squad harbours ambitions of returning to the top in 2017, while the two second-year drivers aspire to follow in the footsteps of DAMS hall-of-fame members Romain Grosjean, Davide Valsecchi and Jolyon Palmer.

21-year-old Latifi returns to DAMS after showing promise in his first full season last year.

After stepping up from the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, Latifi marked his first start for the team with a podium finish in Catalunya, adding three further points finishes during the season as he continued to make progress on the tyres knowledge. Another highlight came at Silverstone, where he qualified an excellent third.

The Canadian driver will only benefit from the continuity of working with the same engineers for a second season and hinted at his potential by setting the fastest time of all during testing at Abu Dhabi last year.

24-year-old Rowland becomes the third British driver to race for DAMS in GP2, after 2014 champion Palmer and Alex Lynn, who won five times in two seasons with the team.

A graduate of the Racing Steps Foundation, Rowland won the Formula Renault 3.5 championship in 2015 and gained further experience in Formula E before stepping up to GP2 last year. In his first season, Rowland impressed by finishing on the podium four times, including both races at his home circuit, Silverstone.

Upon joining DAMS for the Abu Dhabi test, Rowland quickly settled into the team and signalled his intent for the year ahead by topping the timesheets on the second day.

Jean-Paul Driot: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Nicholas for a second season. He demonstrated his pace during his first full season in GP2, especially during qualifying, but we lacked a bit of understanding of tyre management and this cost us a bit for race results. Nicholas works exceptionally hard and we can count on his motivation to transform the potential we have seen into tangible results.

“We have followed Oliver’s performances with great interest for a long time and he was a fierce competitor in Formula Renault 3.5, so we are very aware of his talent and excited to see what he can do in one of our cars. For Oliver and Nicholas, this season will be their second in GP2, so our ambition is absolutely to fight for the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles.”

Nicholas Latifi: “Our big goal is to be consistently running at the front and having a better result in the championship than we did last year. I’m really happy to be in this team for the second season in a row, because I already have an established working relationship with everybody. That will help me a lot, especially as you don’t get a lot of track time in GP2 and you’re always having to adapt to the conditions."

"I know where we have to improve and the team knows where I have to as well. I’ve already made my first visit to the workshop this year and everyone is extremely motivated. There’s definitely a really positive feeling in the team about the upcoming season.”

Oliver Rowland: “The overall aim is to go and dominate the championship, that’s my personal target and is shared by the team. DAMS have won championships in previous years with Valsecchi, Grosjean and Palmer, so I’m coming to an outfit with a lot of pedigree and I’ll have to make sure I’m at the top of my game."

"Last year was my first year and with the tyres it was sometimes difficult, but there were lots of positives and I had some good results. Going into this year, I’ve got a lot better with my approach going into each race, so I’m looking forward to putting it into place. Everyone has been great so far and I’m excited to working with Nicholas to push the team forward.”

The GP2 Series organisers have confirmed the 2017 season calendar. Once again, it will consist of eleven rounds in total, including ten support events of the Formula One World Championship.

Seven rounds will be held in Europe with three flyaway rounds: the return of Sakhir in Bahrain, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. There will be one standalone event in October at Circuito de Jerez, Spain.

The thirteenth season of the GP2 Series will open at Bahrain International Circuit on April 14-16. The last time the GP2 field raced in Bahrain was in 2015. The action will return to Europe with the second round of the year, taking place at Barcelona on May 12-14, before moving to Monte Carlo on May 25-27 and going to Baku in Azerbaijan four weeks later. The month of July will see three events, starting with Spielberg back-to-back with Silverstone on July 07-09 and 14-16 respectively. Budapest will host the seventh round of the season on July 28-30 before a welcome summer break.

The action will restart at Spa-Francorchamps on August 25-27 back-to-back with Monza on September 01-03. The tenth round of the season will take place at Jerez de la Frontera on October 06-08, while the final event will be held at Yas Marina on November 24-26 alongside Formula One.

GP2 Series CEO Bruno Michel said: “I am pleased to reveal this season’s calendar which is made of eleven race weekends again, including ten events alongside Formula One and the return of Sakhir.

“We’re delighted to race in Jerez between Monza and Abu Dhabi. We wanted to have the same number of events (11) including three flyaway rounds in 2017 as in the previous year, but we were mindful of freight costs. This meant not adding a fourth flyaway round and staying in Europe for a standalone event. This is also why we decided to hold our final pre-season test session in Bahrain, ahead of the season opener.”

2017 GP2 Series Calendar