Photo: Alastair Staley/LAT Photographic
Lotus F1 junior Marlon Stockinger has been named as the first GP2 driver for Status Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old Filipino will return to the Silverstone-based team after spending the 2012 GP3 season with them in which Stockinger took a victory in Monaco.
After a season in Formula BMW Pacific and another two in the now-defunct Formula Renault UK series, Stockinger stepped up to international racing in 2011.
His rookie season in GP3 saw him scoring no points, however, in his sophomore campaign a victory and a further podium put him tenth in the standings.
Stockinger then moved up to Formula Renault 3.5 with the support of Lotus. After a relatively quiet rookie year, he turned into a regular point-scoring driver, ending up ninth in the 2014 standings.
“It is really good to come back to Status and I have a lot of happy memories from our time in GP3, especially winning in Monaco,” said Stockinger.
“The team are based at Silverstone which is where my European racing career kicked off and it feels very nostalgic and positive. I feel very excited to be back with the team in my first GP2 season.
?GP2 is a tough series and this year there are some very big names chasing the title. As a rookie, I think the best thing is to aim to be in the points and finish in the top ten, progressing one step at a time and learning as much as possible during pre-season testing.
?My fans are already so excited about what I am doing this season and guessing which team I am with. It is pretty cool that motorsport is growing more popular in the Philippines and I am really thankful to have so much support.?
Teddy Yip commented: ?We are delighted to welcome Marlon back to the team following a successful GP3 campaign in 2012. Marlon is a hard-working and dedicated driver and we know he will apply a high level of professionalism to his maiden GP2 season.
“This season will be Status? first year in GP2 however we have an experienced team of personnel to give Marlon all the tools he needs to succeed in this highly competitive F1 feeder series. We are extremely excited to see him progress.?
Similarly to Stockinger, Status GP will also spend their rookie season in GP2 after purchasing the old Caterham team.
2015 GP2 Series line-up so far
| Teams | Drivers | |
| DAMS | Pierre Gasly | Alex Lynn |
| Carlin | Julian Leal | Marco Sorensen |
| ART Grand Prix | Stoffel Vandoorne | Nobuharu Matsushita |
| Racing Engineering | Jordan King | Alexander Rossi |
| Russian Time | ?Mitch Evans | Artem Markelov |
| Trident | Raffaele Marciello | Rene Binder |
| Campos Racing | Arthur Pic | Rio Haryanto |
| MP Motorsport | ||
| Rapax | Sergey Sirotkin | |
| Arden International | Norman Nato | Andre Negrao |
| Status Grand Prix | Marlon Stockinger | |
| Hilmer Motorsport | ||
| Lazarus | Nathanael Berthon | |