Hitech, Piquet combine for GP2 entry.

Despite no official list yet forthcoming from the series organisers, Hitech Racing and Piquet Sports have revealed a union that will see both teams competing in the new GP2 series as Hitech Piquet Sports.

The project will see the team running two cars, for new British F3 champion Nelson Piquet Jr and current South American F3 Championship leader Alexandre Negr?o. The ten-strong engineering team will be based at Silverstone and will be jointly headed up by David Hayle and Felipe Vargas. The programme is estimated to cost in the region of ?1.9m, including a ?500k investment in addition to ?1.4m operating costs .

Hitech Racing and Piquet Sports have been rivals in the British F3 series for the past two years, but only the UK team was reckoned to be looking at graduating to the new GP2 series when it was announced earlier this season. While Piquet Jr was known to be looking to continue his impressive rise up the racing ladder, it was understood that he would be doing so without the backing of his family team, despite wild rumours that his father, three-time F1 world champion Nelson Sr, may join him in a two-car line-up.

"I'm pleased to hear Hitech Piquet Sports has been selected as one of the teams for the new GP2 series," Vargas commented, "As a Brazilian team that came to Europe just two years ago to compete alongside some of the best motorsport teams in the world, it gives us a huge sense of achievement. We are very excited about the opportunity to be working in this brilliant new class, and confident that joining the qualities of Hitech Racing and Piquet Sports in a new team will allow us to do a good job."

Hitech boss Hayle established an impressive pedigree in F3, forming his team in just seven days, and testing its newly acquired car on the eighth. He doesn't anticipate any major problems in stepping up a level next season.

"Moving into GP2 is a really important stage for the growth of Hitech Racing, but it is equally important that we are doing it together with people of the calibre of Nelson and Piquet Sports, which will make us a very strong team," he explained, "We are two relatively new teams coming together, and one of the most exciting challenges we face is that we not only have to create a team capable of competing in GP2, but we will be facing teams that are far more experienced and established.

"To be able to enter the series with one current champion and one driver who is close to securing his championship means we are very fortunate and I don't know if any other team will be able to match us in terms of driver talent."