French team ARTA Engineering have named the drivers that will race for them in two major FR2.0 categories this year.
In the Eurocup category, ARTA will retain its 2012 drivers William Vermont and Leo Roussel as well as bring French F4’s vice-champion Simon Tirman aboard. ARTA’s squad for the Alps series, meanwhile, will consist of French F4 graduates Simon Gachet and Darius Oskoui.
For 21-year-old Vermont, this will be a second year in the Eurocup category, after 2012 yielded him a total of 29 points which was good enough for 16th in the standings. 2012 was also the year where Vermont placed fifth in the Alps category, scoring an overall of five podiums across the two series (one in Eurocup and four in Alps).
For 17-year-old Roussel, this will also be a second year in the category, the difference being that it’s just his second year after graduating from kart racing. In his 2012 campaign, he failed to score any points in Eurocup, with a season’s best finish of 18th, and racked up 13 points in Alps.
Moving to Eurocup will be a big step up for Tirman, who, in his rookie year of car racing, finished second in the French F4 championship (in a season thoroughly dominated by Alex Baron), taking two wins and eight podiums.
Gachet and Oskoui are of a similar experience level, having finished third and sixth in their rookie years of French F4. Gachet racked up six podiums while Oskoui was the only one besides Tirman and Baron to record a win in the series in 2012.
ARTA Engineering finished fifth in the teams’ standings in Alps and ninth in the Eurocup in 2012.