Super Aguri have announced the signing of Dutch youngster Giedo van der Garde as test and reserve driver for the 2007 Formula One season.

The 21-year-old, who finished sixth in the F3 Euroseries standings this season in his third year in the category, will join up with Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson in the line-up for the second year team and he admitted he was delighted to have been given his F1 chance.

“I am very happy that I can be involved with the Super Aguri F1 team and get a good drive in Formula One,” he said. “When I started karting I always said that I wanted to be in F1, so now I can put my efforts into the team and get to learn about the car. I am looking forward to driving in F1 for the first time.”

Team principal Aguri Suzuki was delighted with the signing of another young driver for his fledgling team and, while he admitted that the start of the season would be far from easy for the Dutchman, he said he was confident that he had what it takes to get the job done.

“We are delighted to have Giedo joining our team,” he said. “He is a young driver with much potential. Formula One, as everyone knows, is not a walk over and in the beginning it will be hard for him. But with his talent I am sure he will overcome this and I hope he works hard and becomes successful in this category too.”