Di Grassi joins Glock at Virgin

Date published : 15 Dec 2009 - 12:40:03

Virgin Racing has confirmed that it has signed Lucas di Grassi to race alongside Timo Glock for its debut Formula 1 campaign next year.At a launch in London's Notting Hill on Tuesday morning, Richard Branson's company finally announced its tie-up with the new Manor-run team which had been an open secret since the official 2010 entry list was published at the end of last month and listed the squad as Virgin Racing.Glock committed to the team several weeks ago after Toyota's withdrawal from F1 left him without a place on next year's grid, and di Grassi was widely tipped for the other seat.The 25-year-old Brazilian has been on the fringes of F1 for several years serving as reserve driver for Renault since 2008, taking part in a shoot-out for a Honda seat against Bruno Senna last winter before the company withdrew, and finishing in the top three in GP2 for the past three seasons (including as runner-up to Glock in 2007).He is highly rated by Manor boss John Booth, having raced for his team in the 2005 F3 Euro Series and won the prestigious Macau GP that year.It's a dream come true for me, said di Grassi.I feel I'm ready. I've worked with John Booth before so I know this is a pure racing team. That's why I chose it.Virgin also announced that its test drivers will be GP2 racers Alvaro Parente, a 25-year-old from Portugal, and 20-year-old Brazilian Luiz Razia.The team is one of four new entrants on next year's expanded 26-car grid, along with Campos Meta, US F1 and Lotus.