Ocean Racing Technology

Portugal Ocean Racing Technology
Founded 2002 (as BCN Competición)
2008 (as Ocean Racing Technology)
Base Perafita, Portugal
Team principal(s) Tiago Monteiro
José Guedes
Former series A1 Grand Prix
Formula 3000
World Series by Nissan
Euro Formula 3000
GP2 Asia Series
GP2 Series
GP3 Series
Noted drivers Italy Andrea Belicchi
Italy Kevin Ceccon
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
Portugal Álvaro Parente
Italy Enrico Toccacelo
Website http://www.oceanracingtech.com/
Folded 2012

Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took 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.

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,[1] however DAMS took over the team for 2006-07.

Formula 3000 and GP2 Series and GP3 Series

Miloš Pavlović driving for BCN at the Monaco round of the 2008 GP2 Series season.
Karun Chandhok driving for Ocean Racing Technology at the Monaco round of the 2009 GP2 Series season.

For 2003, BCN stepped up to International Formula 3000. In their first year on that series, they were 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.[2] Yelmer Buurman[3] 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.[4]

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. Ocean finished the Teams' Championship in 9th, but only two points behind 5th-place finisher iSport International. For 2010, Ocean recruited Max Chilton and Fabio Leimer, with Leimer taking the team's second win, but the team slipped back to twelfth overall in the standings. The following year, Ocean hired Kevin Mirocha (who was later replaced by Brendon Hartley) and Johnny Cecotto Jr.: Hartley scored the team's only points with a fifth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps, this poor showing again resulting in a twelfth-place teams' championship result. For the 2012 season, Ocean signed Nigel Melker, and Jon Lancaster, the latter of whom was swiftly dropped when he ran out of money. He was replaced by Hartley for two rounds of the championship, before Victor Guerin took the seat for the remainder of the season. Melker scored 25 points under the revised system, raising Ocean's performance to eleventh overall following the Coloni team's exclusion from the championship.

In January 2013, the team announced its withdrawal from GP2 (having previously announced its withdrawal from the GP3 Series) due to financial problems. Its place in the series will be taken by new team Hilmer Motorsport.[5]

Complete series results

GP2 Series

GP2 Series Results[6]
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
Spain BCN Competición
2005 Dallara-Mecachrome Venezuela Ernesto Viso 22 0 0 1 21 11th 9th
Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto 22 0 0 1 14 16th
2006 Dallara-Mecachrome Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto 21 0 0 0 12 15th 9th
Germany Timo Glock 9 0 0 0 5 4th†
Italy Luca Filippi 12 0 0 0 7 19th†
2007 Dallara-Mecachrome Japan Sakon Yamamoto 11 0 0 0 0 30th 13th
Finland Markus Niemelä 7 0 0 0 0 31st
Finland Henri Karjalainen 2 0 0 0 0 NC
China Ho-Pin Tung 21 0 0 0 4 23rd
2008 Dallara-Mecachrome Italy Paolo Maria Nocera 2 0 0 0 0 34th 12th
Spain Adrián Vallés 16 0 0 0 5 21st†
Serbia Miloš Pavlović 3 0 0 0 0 32nd
Brazil Carlos Iaconelli 13 0 0 0 0 29th
Portugal Ocean Racing Technology
2009 Dallara-Mecachrome India Karun Chandhok 20 0 0 0 10 18th 9th
Portugal Álvaro Parente 20 1 1 1 30 8th
2010 Dallara-Mecachrome United Kingdom Max Chilton 20 0 0 0 3 25th 12th
Switzerland Fabio Leimer 19 1 0 1 8 19th
2011 Dallara-Mecachrome Germany Kevin Mirocha 12 0 0 0 0 22nd 12th
New Zealand Brendon Hartley 4 0 0 0 4 19th
Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Jr. 18 0 0 0 0 24th
2012 Dallara-Mecachrome United Kingdom Jon Lancaster 2 0 0 0 0 34th 11th
New Zealand Brendon Hartley 4 0 0 0 1 25th
Brazil Victor Guerin 17 0 0 0 0 30th
Netherlands Nigel Melker 23 0 0 0 25 19th
  • † These drivers raced for more than one team during the season. Their final position includes results for all teams.

Formula Nissan 2000

Formula Nissan 2000[7] Results
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2002 Dallara WSL3-Nissan Italy Andrea Belicchi 12 1 2 0 105 5th 6th
Spain Carlos Martin 7 0 0 0 4 16th

International Formula 3000

International Formula 3000 Results[6]
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2003 Lola B02/50-Zytek Judd KV Australia Rob Nguyen 3 0 0 0 5 15th 9th
Italy Valerio Scassellati 4 0 0 0 0 NC
Italy Alessandro Piccolo 4 0 0 0 0 NC
United States Will Langhorne 5 0 0 0 0 NC
United Kingdom Marc Hynes 1 0 0 0 0 NC
Italy Giovanni Berton 1 0 0 0 0 NC
Italy Ferdinando Monfardini 2 0 0 0 0 NC
2004 Lola B02/50-Zytek Italy Enrico Toccacelo 10 1 1 1 56 2nd 2nd
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri 10 0 0 0 28 6th

Spanish Formula Three

Spanish Formula Three Results
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2004 Dallara F399-Toyota Argentina Matias Milla 12 0 0 0 6 15th 9th

Italian Formula 3000

Italian Formula 3000 Results[6]
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2005 Lola B02/50-Zytek Argentina Matías Russo 3 0 0 0 3 21st 6th
Italy Raffaele Giammaria 2 0 0 0 13 10th
Italy Matteo Grassotto 1 0 0 0 0 NC
Italy Matteo Cressoni 3 0 0 0 9 12th

A1 Grand Prix

A1 Grand Prix Results[8]
Year Car Team Wins Poles F.L. Points T.C.
2005–06 Lola-Zytek South Africa A1 Team South Africa 0 0 0 20 17th

GP2 Asia Series

GP2 Asia Series Results
Year Team Name Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2008 Spain BCN Competición Dallara-Mecachrome Serbia Miloš Pavlović 10 0 0 0 6 16th 12th
Turkey Jason Tahincioglu 10 0 0 0 0 22nd
2008-09 Spain BCN Competición*
Portugal Ocean Racing Technology
Dallara-Mecachrome Netherlands Yelmer Buurman 6 0 0 0 4 19th 11th
India Karun Chandhok 2 0 0 0 0 26th
Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto* 2 0 0 0 0 24th
Italy Fabrizio Crestani 9 0 0 0 0 28th
Italy Luca Filippi* 2 0 0 0 0 -
2009-10 Portugal Ocean Racing Technology Dallara-Mecachrome United States Alexander Rossi 2 0 0 0 8 9th† 9th
United Kingdom Max Chilton 2 0 0 0 2 18th†
Netherlands Yelmer Buurman 4 0 0 0 0 21st
Switzerland Fabio Leimer 7 0 0 0 0 31st
2011 Portugal Ocean Racing Technology Dallara-Mecachrome Italy Andrea Caldarelli 4 0 0 0 0 21st 12th
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 4 0 0 0 0 16th
  • † These drivers raced for more than one team during the season. Their final position includes results for all teams.
  • * BCN Competición drivers.

GP3 Series

GP3 Series Results
Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2012 Dallara-Renault Spain Carmen Jordá 16 0 0 0 0 28th 7th
Italy Kevin Ceccon 16 0 0 2 56 9th
Republic of Ireland Robert Cregan 16 0 0 0 0 22nd

Sources

  1. a1podium.com/teamRSA.php, A1 team South Africa informations.
  2. "Tiago Monteiro confirms the acquisition of GP2 team". tiagomonteiro.com. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  3. "Buurman fills Monteiro's first seat". autosport.com. 2008-11-29. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  4. "Ocean sign Crestani as second driver". autosport.com. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  5. Beer, Matt (2013-01-16). "Hilmer Motorsport replaces Ocean in GP2". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2013-01-16.
  6. 1 2 3 speedsportmag.com, GP2 and Formula 3000 entrylist and complete results.
  7. 2002 Formula Nissan light complete results speedsportmag.com
  8. results.a1gp.com, A1 Grand Prix complete results.

External links

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