Duran misses out on home race
Mexican A1 Grand Prix driver Salvador Durun, who came so close to scoring his first win in the series two weeks ago, will miss out on the chance to race in front of his home fans this weekend
The 20-year-old has been replaced for the Monterrey round by ex-Formula Atlantic racer David Martinez.
The decision at the DAMS-run team was made because of circuit knowledge. "David has more experience of this circuit, having raced here in Formula Atlantic," said Duran, who would almost certainly have won the feature race in Indonesia on February 12 had he not collided with Portugal's Alvaro Parente in a botched passing attempt.
"It's David's chance to be the hero," Duran added. "I'm very happy with the team's decision. It's not a problem."
Martinez is a former Mexican Formula Renault champion and raced in the V6 Eurocup in 2004, before switching to Atlantics last year.
"This will be the most important race of my life," Martinez said. "Salvador was pretty fast in Indonesia, it's clearly a good car, so I should be in a good position to do well."
Other driver changes this weekend include the addition of another ex-Formula One driver to the series. Former Minardi racer Patrick Friesacher has replaced Mathias Lauda at Team Austria.
At Team Lebanon Graham Rahal, son of Champ Car legend Bobby, is in for Basil Shaaban, and IRL star Bryan Herta returns to the series for Team USA in place of Philip Giebler.
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