by Russell Atkins

GP2 debutant Bruno Senna is bidding to uphold a proud winning tradition as he prepares for his maiden outing in the series in Bahrain this weekend – and despite his lack of experience, he is confident he will more than be able to cut it.

The Brazilian – nephew of the great three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton – came to motor racing relatively late in life, not getting his professional career on-track until 2004 when he participated in a handful of races in Formula BMW UK and Formula Renault. His progression since then has been nothing short of breathtaking, moving onto British F3 the following year and last season finishing third in the hotly-fought single-seater series, having led the title chase commandingly in the early part of the campaign and registering no fewer than five victories en route. Little wonder, then, that his GP2 graduation with former F3000 championship-winning outfit Arden does not really faze him too much.

“I'm looking forward to the season,” he enthused to Crash.net. “It's going to be a massive challenge this year, another really steep learning curve, but I will try to enjoy it to the full.

“My GP2 friends were all giving me a lot of 'you are going to feel so tired' before I drove the car for the first time, so I was expecting it to be a killer. It was much harder to drive than my F3 machine, but fortunately it wasn't the killer they had been describing. It's simply a much faster car and quite different to drive.

“It did take a while to adapt 100 per cent to the car and get everything out of it, but my first experience with it was quite nice. It's just a shame it was at a circuit I didn't know very well. I would probably have done better if it had been somewhere I had driven before.

“With the F3 car you have to be extremely smooth so as not to lose any speed; in GP2 you can be a bit more aggressive. The braking distances are also very hard to get used to – it takes a long time to get the right brake pressures and braking points for the speed you arrive at the corner.”

One key advantage offered by GP2 is that of drivers being able to prove their mettle in front of the people who matter the most – the grand prix team bosses. Though many of the circuits will be new to him this year, it is a prospect Senna is clearly relishing.

“The Formula 1 teams can actually pay attention to the races and see what you are doing,” he asserted, “rather than just having to judge on the results. That's something that can make a big difference to their driver choices. Sometimes for example a driver may be with a team that is not backing him up fully and so doesn't get the results, but people at the circuit can see he is actually doing a very good job.

“I think all the grand prix tracks I haven't been to before will be a big challenge. I will try to go to them first with a road car or a bike or something to learn them so I don't arrive at the race weekend not knowing where to turn. I think the place I really want to go to, because I have heard so many great things about the circuit, is Turkey. That should be a brilliant track for GP2 with its long straights, fast corners and hard braking. It's a circuit full of variety, so I guess we will all really enjoy that.”