Trident Racing admit they are close to finalising a deal to run Chris van der Drift in both the GP2 Asia Series and next year's main GP2 Series after hugely impressing the team during post-season testing.

The Dutchman came to the team after securing the runners-up spot in this year's International Formula Master championship, duly defying his lack of experience in the faster machinery to prove one of the quickest rookies on test.

He has impressed the race winning Trident Racing outfit so much that team boss Alessandro Alunni Bravi wants to try and confirm the New Zealand-born youngster to one of their seats before long.

"All the staff of Trident Racing was impressed by the great feedback received from Chris Van der Drift in this week's tests at Paul Ricard. The driver proved to be fast on-track as well as useful while helping in the car's set-up and development processes. He kept a highly-professional profile all the time, especially while dealing with our technical compartment.

“I think he'll be ready to start a positive experience in the GP2 Asia and in the 2008 Main Series, lining-up as the most competitive Dutch driver around.

“Chris somehow reminded me Pastor Maldonado for his ease in adapting to an unknown car and for his ability to start turning competitive laps in a short time, but also shown a more analytical approach to the technical side of competition. Even though we only had the chance to test him for a couple of days, I really think that he has what it takes to become the reference driver for Trident Racing.

“I hope I'll be able to count on Chris in both the Asian and the Main Series, and I hope he'll be able to get the necessary support in order to build himself an important and successful future.”