Rapax Team
Rapax team is an Italian motor racing team. The team was founded in 2000 by three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet under the name Piquet Sports. 2007 merged the team with GP Racing to Minardi Piquet Sports. After being in 2008 returned to the name Piquet Sports, was called in 2009 in Piquet GP to. The end of 2009, the team was finally renamed Rapax team.
History
2000-2004: Formation and initial success in Formula 3
Piquet Sports was founded in 2000 by Brazilian Nelson Piquet, three -time Formula 1 World Champion, founded by his son Nelson Piquet Jr. to allow racing experience in Formula racing. As a team manager Filipe Vargas was hired. First we went to in the South American Formula 3 Championship, where Piquet Jr. in his first race was second and won four races later in Cascavel. Piquet Jr. finished the championship with 77 points in fifth place, the team was also with 77 points in fourth in the team standings.
The team remained in the following year in the South American Formula 3 Championship, in which one won 13 of 18 races. With 296 points, won the drivers' title Piquet Jr. and the Piquet Sports team title. Piquet Jr. had on his next opponent Danilo Dirani a lead of over 100 points. 2003, it moved from the South American Formula 3 Championship in the British Formula 3 Championship. The team showed in his debut season, a good performance. Piquet Jr. won six races, was standing with five other races on the podium and scored a total of 231 points. In the championship, he finished third behind the champion Alan van der Merwe and the Second Jamie Green.
The team began in 2004 with Piquet Jr. in the second season in the British Formula 3 Championship. In addition, you went to Alexandre Sarnes Negrao in the South American Formula 3 Championship at the start. Both drivers won the title in their league and won 16 races together.
2005 -: GP2 Series
2005, the team rose to the newly established GP2 Series, the successor series F3000 on. It cooperated with the British team Hitech Racing and launched under the name HiTech / Piquet Racing in the season. The driver duo were the two masters Piquet Jr. and Negrao. Piquet Jr. won the feature race at Spa- Francorchamps and gave the team its first victory in the new series. In the team standings at the end of the season they finished sixth.
After the cooperation with Hitech Racing had already been completed for the middle of last season, the team was launched in 2006 under the name Piquet Sports. They sat still in the duo Piquet Jr. and Negrao. Piquet Jr. won four races and reached it the first driver ever in Budapest, a race weekend in which he scored the maximum score. In the drivers' standings, Piquet Jr. finally had to admit defeat Lewis Hamilton and was runner-up. Piquet Sports met the same fate and was directed by Hamilton's team ART Grand Prix second place in the team standings. Negrao could not keep up with the performance of his teammates in two seasons and scored only sporadically points.
For the 2007 season Piquet Sports merged with GP Racing by Minardi and the team was renamed Minardi Piquet Sports. After Piquet, Jr. left the team in the direction of the Formula 1 teams of Renault, Roldán Rodríguez was hired as team-mate Negrao. The best result achieved this time Negrao who finished second in the sprint race at Istanbul. Also Rodríguez reached a podium placement. Since the two drivers otherwise rare imports points, finished Minardi Piquet Sports end of the season in eleventh place overall.
In 2008, the team changed the name back to Piquet Sports and also participated in the first season of the new GP2 Asia Series. As a driver Marcello Puglisi and Marco Bonanomi were committed. While Puglisi could get no points, Bonanomi won the sprint race in Dubai. It was the first victory in the GP2 Asia Series and also the first victory was not achieved by Piquet jr.
In the main European series is committed for the 2008 season, the experienced driver Andreas Zuber and Pastor Maldonado. Both pilots achieved together ten podium finishes, including a victory from Maldonado at Spa-Francorchamps. In the team standings they finished in third place, the second- best finish in the young GP2 past.
At the end of the season once again changed the name and since then as Piquet GP at the start. In the second season of GP2 Asia Series drivers they changed again. Roldán Rodríguez returned to the team. His teammate was the Brazilian Diego Nunes. Overall, the team won three races. Nunes won two, Rodríguez a race. In the team championship they won the runner-up behind DAMS. For the 2009 GP2 Series season Nunes was replaced by his compatriot Alberto Valerio. With a win, the Valerio took at Silverstone, Piquet GP occupied at the end of season to seventh place in the team standings.
For the 2009/2010 GP2 Asia Series season Vladimir Arabadzhiev and Daniel Zampieri were committed. After the first race weekend, the team opted for another name change and you will go from now on under the name Rapax team at the start. The name is based on the designation for the 21 Roman legion under Emperor Augustus, whose motto veni vincere ( I came to conquer ) was.