Trident impressed with van der Drift

The 21-year-old, who previously tested for Trident in October last year when the GP2 series cars featured a different aerodynamic package, drove a GP2 car for the first time this year at last week's Paul Ricard test, the New Zealand driver impressing the Trident team boss.

Van der Drift drove with the team on the final two days of the test, and his strongest performance came on Friday afternoon, when he was nine tenths of a second off the pace.

"Even though we only had the chance to test Chris for a couple of days, I really think that he has what it takes to become the reference driver for Trident Racing," said Bravi.

"All the staff were impressed by the great feedback received from Chris in last week's test.

"I hope I'll be able to count on him in both the Asian and the main GP2 Series, and I hope he'll be able to get the necessary support in order to build himself an important and successful future."

Bravi compared van der Drift to Pastor Maldonado, who competed with the team in 2007.

"Chris somehow reminded me of Pastor for his ease in adapting to an unknown car and for his ability to start turning competitive laps in a short time.

"But he also showed a more analytical approach to the technical side of competition. He proved to be fast on track as well as useful while helping in the car's setup and development."