Honda announces its Young Drivers for 2008: Filippi is there!

Photos of the Honda RA108
During the presentation event of the new single-seater for 2008, Honda Racing F1 Team announced that Mike Conway and Luca Filippi will be its Young Drivers for next season.

As part of Honda's commitment to encouraging the growth of young motor racing talents, in November and December last year the two GP2 drivers were invited to take part in the selection of the Young Driver programme. The invited drivers had the opportunity to drive the 1 Honda F2007 car, while the team examined their potential to assess whether they could become part of the team's test group.

Under the new regulations for 2008, each team has a certain number of days to evaluate young drivers. Honda Racing F1 Team has announced that it intends to use these days to allow Luca and Mike to develop their skills by becoming more in tune with the car and collaborating on the preparation of the new Honda single-seater for the 2008 season, all without compromising the activities of the drivers in view of the next GP2 championship.

Luca Filippi, 22 years old, currently races for the Meritus team in the Asian GP2 series and in 2008 he will once again be part of the ART Grand Prix team for his third season of competition in GP2. Luca finished in fourth position in the 2 GP2007 championship, which he contested for the Super Nova International team. Luca began his racing career in his home country of Italy, winning the Italian Formula 3000 championship in 2005, before moving up to GP2.
Mike Conway, 24, was Luca's teammate at Super Nova International last year, and has been part of the Honda Young Driver Program since March 2007. After his debut season in GP2, Mike will race in 2008 for Trident Racing. Prior to GP2, Mike won the British Formula 3 championship and the Macau Grand Prix in the 2006 season, as well as winning the UK Formula Renault title in 2004. Mike was also given the opportunity to test the brand new RA108 during the preliminary testing phase of the single-seater which took place in Valencia last week.
As a tangible sign of Honda's growing involvement in the world of motorsports and its commitment to new talent, Honda Racing F1 Team has also confirmed that it will reward the winner of the 2008 Formula Master series by making its RA108 single-seater available to him for a day . The Formula Master championship, a formula reserved for young talents, joins the FIA ​​World Touring Car championship during the eight European rounds of this series.
Ron Meadows, sporting director of the Honda Racing F1 Team and head of the Honda Young Driver Programme, commented: “We are really excited to be able to announce that Mike and Luca will be our Young Drivers for 2008. Both drivers have won us over with their their excellent performances and their commitment during the end-of-year test sessions. After careful consideration, we have therefore decided to reward them with the opportunity to collaborate with the team this season. Furthermore, today we are also announcing the new partnership with the Formula Master series and the opportunity for the champion of this competition to test the new Honda F1 for a day. Honda takes its commitment to the sport's most promising young talents very seriously and looks with genuine enthusiasm at the possibility of collaborating with these riders to help them grow to the highest levels of the sport."

Mike Conway commented: “I am really happy to continue working with the Honda Racing F1 Team. I will face next season with great enthusiasm. I have already learned a lot thanks to the test sessions with the team and I find the possibility of contributing to the development of the car for the next F1 season really satisfying. I drove the RA108 in Valencia last Friday and thought it was fantastic, so I can't wait to do it again.”

Luca Filippi said: “Joining the Honda Young Driver Program is truly a great opportunity for me, I'm really happy to be able to collaborate with the team for this season. I really hope I can learn a lot from the technicians and riders of the team. I am sure that this experience will be very useful to me not only for a possible future in F1, but also for the GP2 championship. I take this opportunity to thank the Honda Racing F1 Team for showing trust in me and I look forward to having the opportunity to drive the RA108.”

Honda