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Tech 1 Racing team boss Simon Abadie was impressed with the performance of the GP3 car at the championship’s inaugural test at Paul Ricard last week.

Jean-Eric Vergne today set the fastest time at Oulton Park as British Formula 3 challengers gathered for the penultimate pre-season test. The Frenchman, driving for Carlin Motorsport, managed to better Max Chilton’s 2009 pole position time at the Cheshire track with a 1m27.444s. Colombian Carlos Huertas was hot on the Frenchman’s heels, taking his Raikkonen Robertson Racing machine to within four-tenths of the pacesetter at the end of the day, having dominated the morning

Luiz Razia will replace Daniel Zampieri at the Rapax team for the GP2 Asia Series finale in Bahrain this weekend. The 20-year-old Brazilian, who is a test and reserve driver for Virgin’s Formula 1 team, won last season’s finale at Bahrain. Zampieri, who has been signed up by Ferrari’s young driver academy, is hoping to enter Formula Renault 3.5 in 2010 and will miss this weekend’s GP2 finale to test at Barcelona this week.

Karun Chandhok: I am really looking forward to my F1 debut this weekend. It will also be the first time I will be driving the new HRT F1 car so I can’t wait to get my hands on it

Karun Chandhok’s last minute deal with Hispania completed the Formula 1 grid for 2010, but the Indian makes his grand prix debut for a team that has not tested its car yet. As preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix got underway at Sakhir today, Chandhok spoke exclusively to AUTOSPORT about his expectations and getting used to being an F1 driver. Q

Jolyon Palmer will return for a second season in Formula 2 this year.

Dani Clos is to return to Trident for the final round of the GP2 Asia season in Bahrain this weekend. The Spaniard had driven for the team in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, but Adrian Zaugg took the seat for the previous rounds at Sakhir last month, charging to eighth in the first race before colliding with Sergio Perez as they fought for the lead at the start of the sprint race.

Yelmer Buurman will drive for the Atech-run AC Milan team in this year’s Superleague Formula. The 23-year-old Dutchman has been a Superleague regular since the football-themed series’ inception - taking second in the inaugural championship for PSV Eindhoven (Azerti) and taking Zakspeed’s Anderlecht entry to fourth last year.

Work on the new grand prix circuit at Silverstone is nearing completion, the British Grand Prix organisers said on Tuesday. The multi-million pound investment in a new track layout for this year’s race, as well as improved spectator facilities, is on schedule to be finished by the end of the month.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Bernie Ecclestone and F-1 sponsor hunters have been trying to break into the Russian market for decades

Robert Kubica
Q. After four weeks of testing, do you feel ready to go racing?

RK: I feel as ready as I can be considering that winter testing has been so limited. I’ve spent a lot of time with the team and we already have a strong working relationship, which means we can make the most of the time at the track. There has been a lot for me to learn and there are still questions to answer, but we got some good information from the tests and I tried to extract the maximum from every lap.

Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal Q. What are your thoughts ahead of what could be a crucial season for Force India? A: We finished 2009 on a real high note - our first-ever points, a podium and one place up in the Constructors’ Championship.

Karun Chandhok is optimistic that the new Hispania team can score points this year despite its troubled build-up to the Formula 1 season. The squad was dramatically restructured in late February, with original founder Adrian Campos departing and Colin Kolles being drafted in to run the team by Jose Ramon Carabante, who had taken full control of the company. HRT launched its Dallara-built F1 car in Murcia on Thursday, but has been unable to test before the season opener in Bahrain next weekend

Former GP2 race winner and A1GP frontrunner Clivio Piccione is to switch to sportscars this year, having signed for the Hexis Aston Martin team in the new GT1 World Championship.

Jean-Eric Vergne has confirmed that he will stage a Formula Renault 3.5 campaign with SG Formula in 2010 alongside his British Formula 3 assault with Carlin, as predicted by AUTOSPORT. The French driver was quickest in F3 testing with Carlin earlier this week before heading for the first FR3.5 test of the year at Barcelona, where he was teamed with 2009 title contender Marcos Martinez at SG.

Petter Solberg has charged into a commanding early lead in the Rally Mexico. The former world champion benefited from being seventh in the running order and therefore getting better stage conditions than the championship leaders - who have swept the dust clear for the following cars

Pedro de la Rosa: “I have good memories of Bahrain. In 2005 when I had to jump in I scored the fastest race lap. In 2007 I was there for two days of testing

McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner Dean Smith says Formula 2 is his first choice for the 2010 season and he hopes to conclude a deal to join the championship soon. The 22-year-old took part in last winter’s post-season F2 test and was impressed with the series

Alvaro Parente is to stay on at Coloni for the GP2 Asia finale next weekend after his promising performance in the last event. The Portuguese driver was a late addition to the field but finished sixth in the first race at Sakhir and was battling for the lead when a collision with Sergio Perez ended his sprint race on the first lap

Lotus Junior team driver Nelson Panciatici claimed the fastest time at the conclusion of the opening day of Formula Renault 3.5 testing at Barcelona.