Ocean Racing Technology

Ocean Racing Technology
Full name Ocean Racing Technology
Founded 2008 (2002 as BCN Competicion)
Base Perafita, Portugal
Founder/s
Team principal/s Tiago Monteiro
José Guedes
Race drivers 18. Kevin Mirocha
18. Brendon Hartley
19. Johnny Cecotto, Jr.
Race drivers 14. Andrea Caldarelli
15. Oliver Turvey
GP2 Series record
Debut 2005
Teams' Championships 0
Drivers' Championships 0
Race victories 1
Debut 2008
Teams' Championships 0
Drivers' Championships 0
Race victories 0
Other Series
Former Series A1 Grand Prix
Formula 3000
World Series by Nissan
Euro Formula 3000

Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) is a racing team that takes part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased from BCN, a team which never enjoyed much success in GP2 (two podiums in four years). The driver and the entrepreneur created a structure based on recognized professionals and quickly started to secure first-class results, making it possible for the Portuguese Racing team to fight with the more advanced teams in the FIA accredited championship that is the main feeder series for Formula One.

While BCN was the only GP2 team that had yet to win a race (contributing factors being BCN Competición's frequent use of a rotating selection of paying drivers), the change to ORT meant a full transformation (the team kept only the frames, discarding all the rest, and hiring new staff). In their first year in GP2, Álvaro Parente won the first race for the team at the 2009 Belgian GP2 Feature Race, in a round where he also got pole position and fastest lap.

Contents

History

The team was created in 2002 and their debut season was in Formula Nissan with Andrea Belicchi and Carlos Martin as drivers.

In 2003 and 2004, BCN raced in International Formula 3000/GP2 Series, finishing as runner-up in both the drivers and teams championships in 2004.

In 2005-06, the team was involved in the new A1 Grand Prix series managing the A1 Team South Africa car,[2] however DAMS took over the team for 2006-07.

Formula 3000 and GP2 Series

For 2003, BCN stepped up to International Formula 3000. In their first year on that series, they was known as a rent-a-drive team due to high number of drivers who passed by team that year (drivers such as Will Langhorne, Alessandro Piccolo, Ferdinando Monfardini and Rob Nguyen). This year, it had many financial difficulties and virtually did not have a big sponsor.

In 2004, the situation got better - the team ran veteran driver Enrico Toccacelo alongside Argentine youngster Esteban Guerrieri. With the same drivers throughout the year, the team found the pace to reach second place in the Teams' Championiship, with 84 points (56 from Toccacelo and 28 from Guerrieri) just behind the Arden International team.

BCN was considered a threat for the new GP2 Series, alongside other top teams like Super Nova Racing and Arden. In 2005, the team hired Venezuelan star Ernesto Viso and Japanese Hiroki Yoshimoto, anticipating at least, some victories and many points. However, compared to the previous year, 2005 was a great disappointment. BCN could not threaten teams like Arden and ART Grand Prix. The team ended the year with 35 points and 9th place in the Teams' Championiship.

In 2006, Scalabroni's team continued as a midfield team, scoring points occasionally. Yoshimoto continued with the team, first paired with Timo Glock (who brought DHL as sponsor), but the German driver was not comfortable with the team and moved to iSport International at mid-season. Glock's place was filled by Luca Filippi. The team again finished 9th in the Teams' Championship, with 22 points.

For 2007 BCN hired a pair of young Asian talents - Super Aguri F1 test driver Sakon Yamamoto and 2006 German F3 Cup champion Ho-Pin Tung. When Yamamoto stepped up to F1, his place was taken by Finnish driver Markus Niemelä. However, the team was unsuccessful, scoring just four points all year. 2008 was little better, with a succession of drivers competing for the team amidst reported financial troubles. A fourth place for Adrián Vallés at Monaco was the only points-scoring run.

BCN Competición was bought by the Portuguese former F1 (and current WTCC) driver Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes in November 2008, in a move that relocated the team to the Algarve circuit, being renamed Ocean Racing Technology (ORT).[4] Yelmer Buurman[5] and Fabrizio Crestani drove for the team in the 2008-09 GP2 Asia Series season, replacing BCN drivers Yoshimoto and Luca Filippi who competed in the first round of the championship.[6].

In the 2009 GP2 main season, drivers were Álvaro Parente and Karun Chandhok. Parente scored the team's first win in the Spa-Francorchamps round and was 8th in the final Championship standings. ORT finished the Teams' Championship in 9th, but only two points behind 5th place finisher iSport International.

GP2 Series Results[7]
Year Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points D.C. T.C.
2005 Dallara-Mecachrome Ernesto Viso 0 0 1 21 12th 9th
Hiroki Yoshimoto 0 0 1 24 16th
2006 Dallara-Mecachrome Timo Glock 0 0 0 5 4th † 9th
Hiroki Yoshimoto 0 0 0 12 15th
Luca Filippi 0 0 0 7 19th
2007 Dallara-Mecachrome Ho-Pin Tung 0 0 0 4 23rd 13th
Sakon Yamamoto 0 0 0 0 30th
Markus Niemelä 0 0 0 0 31st
Henri Karjalainen 0 0 0 0 NC
2008 Dallara-Mecachrome Paolo Maria Nocera 0 0 0 0 34th 12th
Adrián Vallés† 0 0 0 5 21st
Miloš Pavlović 0 0 0 0 32nd
Carlos Iaconelli 0 0 0 0 29th
2009 Dallara-Mecachrome Karun Chandhok 0 0 0 10 18th 9th
Álvaro Parente 1 1 1 30 8th
2010 Dallara-Mecachrome Max Chilton 0 0 0 3 25th 12th
Fabio Leimer 1 0 1 8 19th
2011 Dallara-Mecachrome Kevin Mirocha 0 0 0 0 22th 12th
Brendon Hartley 0 0 0 4 19th
Johnny Cecotto, Jr. 0 0 0 0 24th
2012 Dallara-Mecachrome Nigel Melker -th -th
-th

Sources

  1. ^ 2002 Formula Nissan light complete results speedsportmag.com
  2. ^ a1podium.com/teamRSA.php, A1 team South Africa informations.
  3. ^ results.a1gp.com, A1 Grand Prix complete results.
  4. ^ "Tiago Monteiro confirms the acquisition of GP2 team". tiagomonteiro.com. 2008-11-27. https://tiagomonteiro.com/default.aspx?go=32&c=196. Retrieved 2008-11-27. 
  5. ^ "Buurman fills Monteiro's first seat". autosport.com. 2008-11-29. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72281. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  6. ^ "Ocean sign Crestani as second driver". autosport.com. 2008-12-02. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72299. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
  7. ^ a b speedsportmag.com, GP2 and Formula 3000 entrylist and complete results.

External links

Teams and drivers competing in the 2012 GP2 Series season
Addax DAMS Racing Eng. iSport ART Caterham Coloni Trident Super Nova Rapax Arden Ocean Carlin
1 TBA
2 TBA		 3 TBA
4 TBA		 5 TBA
6 TBA		 7 Ericsson
8 Palmer		 9 Calado
10 Gutiérrez		 11 TBA
12 TBA		 14 Ceccon
15 TBA		 16 Leal
17 Richelmi		 18 TBA
19 TBA		 20 TBA
21 TBA		 22 TBA
23 TBA		 24 TBA
25 TBA		 26 TBA
27 TBA