Felix Rosenqvist will be on the grid for the first-ever round of the new nation-based ACCELERATION FA1 series, taking up driving duties for Team Sweden at next week’s season-opener at Portimão, Portugal.
Featuring 550-bhp single-seaters and mandatory pit stops, the FA1 category is the headline act of the new-for-2014 ACCELERATION event platform, which blends various forms of motorsport with off-track entertainment and live music. All FA1 squads are carrying the colours of respective nations, with Team Sweden going up against entries from the likes of Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
Rosenqvist will travel to Portugal straight from Silverstone, where the FIA Formula 3 European Championship – his main 2014 programme – gets underway this coming weekend.
“I’m happy to have been given the opportunity from everyone involved to do the FA1 race in Portimão,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “It’s not often that you get to represent your own country in an international motorsport event, and the guys at Team Sweden have really been working hard to make this happen. It’s a brand new championship, but I’ve done a couple of tests over the winter and it’s all been positive so far. I’ll be going to Portugal to support the team and to gain experience in a big, powerful car – which can only be a positive for my future career – and I’ll also get to try out pit stops for the first time. I’ll do my best to give Sweden a strong start to the season!”
Team Sweden country manager Bobby Issazadhe, meanwhile, is delighted at reuniting with Rosenqvist – whom he ran in German F3 in 2010.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Felix in the Team Sweden car for the first round of the season,” says Issazadhe. “He is one of the most highly-rated talents of his generation, and he’s a great guy and team player. To my mind, he’s not just the fastest F3 driver in the world; he’s also massively good at adapting to new situations. When he tested the FA1 car for the first time back in November, he was instantly on the pace and ended the day P1, and it will be down to us to give him the car he deserves in Portugal. The ACCELERATION platform has a lot of promise and we’re glad to be a part of it from the beginning.”
For further information on FA1 and ACCELERATION, please visit www.acceleration14.com.
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