ADDAX TEAM

BARWA ADDAX TEAM

WELCOME

The foundations of the Barwa Addax Team began in 2007 when Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag took a major shareholding in the team, going on to become sole owner in 2008.

A strategic joint venture agreement between Addax Team and the Qatari company Barwa was in place for the first GP2 Asia Championship at the beginning of 2008, continuing with the second generation GP2 car for the 2008 GP2 Main Series Championship in Europe. The ongoing alliance with Barwa has aided the team in signing top drivers, which has contributed to always finishing in the top three teams in the overall rankings since that time. In its first year of the new structure the team showed its intent by finishing third in the 2007 Team Championship and third in the Driver’s Championship with Giorgio Pantano.

In 2007, the good results were just around the corner and the team finished third overall in the constructor’s championship and third overall in the driver’s championship with Giorgio Pántano, backed up by rookie Russian driver, Vitaly Petrov. Giorgio won two races and was second three times and finished third once. Vitaly won his first race at the Valencian circuit of Cheste, with the Barwa Addax team celebrating a historic one two at their home circuit.

In the first GP2 Asia Championship in early 2008, Barwa AddaxTeam finished in third place in both the Team and Drivers Championships, and consolidated the status in GP2 by going on to win the 2008 Main Series Team title with drivers Vitaly Petrov and Lucas di Grassi. Lucas joined the team after six races. Nevertheless, he still won three times, finishes second three times and set two fastest lap times. Vitaly improved on his results, winning one race, finishing second once, with another third place finish and one fastest lap time.

For the 2009 season Barwa Addax Team finished third in the GP2 Asia series and second in the GP2 Main series. Team drivers Vitaly Petrov and Romain Grojean scored more than double the points of the third placed team. Vitaly Petrov finished second overall in the driver’s championship. His season included 2 victories, 3 second place finishes and 2 thirds. He was also on pole twice and set 2 fastest lap times. Romain Grosjean finished fourth overall, despite missing the last 8 races of the championship due to his move up to Formula 1. Nevertheless, he had won 2 races, finished second once and his campaign included 3 poles and 2 fastest lap times.

Maintaining the high level of success for 2010, Barwa Addax Team finished runners up in the GP2 Main Series Team Championship, just five points behind the victors, and still with the possibility of winning the Championship right up to the last race in Abu Dhabi. Scoring many race wins, Barwa Addax driver Sergio Perez also finished second in the 2010 GP2 Drivers Championship after 5 victories, 1 second place and 1 third, including 1 pole position and 5 fastest laps. Team mate Giedo van der Garde, finished 7th overall with 4 podium finishes. A special mentioned must be added for the recently finished GP2 Asia Series where both the team and driver Giedo van der Garde finished on the podium in their respective championships.

The 2011 GP2 season, once again saw Barwa Addax as Team Champions, with team drivers Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic fighting for the top three places in the Drivers Championship up to the last race in Monza. Pic eventually finishing in fourth place and van der Garde in fifth, with very few points separating P2 to P5. The young French driver was considered the fastest of the season with 3 poles, 2 victories and 3 second placed. The team continued its great trajectory of not finishing out of the first three and went on to win the team title for a second time.

In 2012, Barwa Addax handed the wheel of its cars to two young drivers to defend the Championship obtained one year earlier: Johnny Cecotto (Venezuela) and Josef Král (Czech Republic). The Venezuelan driver rose from the 24th place he achieved last year to 9th this season. He won two important races in Monaco and Germany, finished 2nd in Great Britain and Italy and achieved one fastest lap and one pole position. The Czech driver proved his talent and quality with a great win at Spa.

Barwa Addax Team statistics since the 2007 re-structuring are quite impressive: Equal the number of podium places to the nearest competitor, twice Team Championship winner, runner up twice and a Team Championship third place. In 2011 Barwa Addax scored more pole positions (four) than any other team.

Adding to the prestige of race wins, podium places and overall results is the Barwa Addax Teams’ enviable record of its team drivers being promoted to Formula One: Romain Grojean to Renault F1, Lucas di Grassi to Virgin F1, Vitaly Petrov to Renault F1, Sergio Perez to Sauber, and for 2012, Charles Pic to Marussia F1 and Giedo van der Garde to Caterham F1.