Duncan Tappy on the grid with DAMS

There's another new entry in the Auto GP grid, and it's British: Duncan Tappy, 25 years-old from West Ewell, Surrey, will race with DAMS. So, after announcing Edoardo Piscopo some weeks ago, the French team has chosen another experienced driver for its line-up, aiming for very good results from the very first event.

Tappy started with motorsport in 2001 racing in karting, debuting on single seaters three years later. It didn't take long to see him clinching important wins: in 2005 Duncan won the Formula Ford Festival, a race that in the past years was the first launch pad for great talents as Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine. On the following season the brit passed on to Formula Renault Uk: after a learning year in 2006, he took the title in 2007 after a dominating season: Tappy won 9 out of 20 races, adding to that another 7 podium finishes, seven pole positions and 9 fastest laps. In the previous years, only Lewis Hamilton managed an equally impressive score, clinching ten wins in 2003.

After F.Renault, Tappy raced in lots of different series, building a vast experience: Ws by Renault, Superleague Formula, International Formula Master, and even Indy Ligths in the USA. Racing in Auto GP, Duncan will have the chance to make the most of this experience, aiming for the 1.2 million euros prize money.

Enzo Coloni: "We are happy to have a british driver in our championship, and most importantly that he's a very talented one. Duncan already showed what he is capable of, and we're sure that he has found the right package with DAMS and Auto GP. He already knows the car, and there's no doubt that he will be very fast straight out of the box".

Duncan Tappy: "I'm very excited about racing in Auto GP and to be with such a great team as DAMS is a fantastic opportunity. I loved my time in the car with A1 Team GB and can't wait to get on track at Brno. The main thing for me is to have a full racing season ahead if me, which hasn't been the case for the last two years. I am confident that the certainty and continuity will translate into success on track and I want to give another big thank you to my management company CJ Motorsport for making it happen, as well as to Mr Driot and everyone at DAMS and Enzo Coloni at Auto GP for welcoming me into their Championship".

-source: auto gp