Caterham have announced today that Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde has joined the team as the official Reserve Driver. He will participate in pre-season testing and drive in some of the Free Practice sessions throughout the season.
Van der Garde raced in GP2 in 2011, finishing fifth in the standings for the Barwa Addax team. He was a candidate to drive for Virgin in 2011. With Caterham in 2012, he will be hoping to make a good enough impression to land a race drive in 2013.
Team Principal Tony Fernandes said: “We are delighted to welcome Giedo into the family as Reserve Driver. He is a very exciting prospect that we have been monitoring since the early days of our team, and we are all looking forward to seeing how he can help us develop throughout the season as we take our next steps towards the established midfield teams ahead.
“His performances in GP2, particularly in 2011, mark Giedo out as one of motorsport’s brightest prospects, and securing him as Reserve Driver is a real coup for our team. I am sure he will flourish on and off track, and we wish him all the best as he takes the next step into Formula 1 with us.”
Van der Garde on his appointment: “I’m very happy to become a part of the Caterham F1 Team family today and I’m very excited about the next step in my career within Formula 1. The team is fresh, with some fantastic people here. Tony Fernandes is extremely ambitious and he has brought in a lot of very good people in to help grow this team for future success. I’m looking forward to learning and moving forward with the team, in and out of the car.”
Testing begins on Tuesday 7 February where the new Caterham CT01 car will be in action.
Chris on F1 
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