Fresh from a dominant win in the Spanish
F3 support race over the course of the European Grand Prix weekend in Valencia, Thor-Christian Ebbesvik has announced a winter testing programme that he hopes will lead to a place on the
GP2 grid for the 2009 campaign.
The Team West-Tec driver picked up his first overall win in the Spanish Formula Three series with a lights-to-flag victory and will hope to return to the venue next year having graduated to the F1 feeder series after confirming he will test for four teams at the conclusion of the series.
The Norwegian has already had a taste of GP2, having made the most of the existing relationship between West-Tec and Racing Engineering to try out a car for Alfonso de Orleans Borbon's team last winter, and has now been contracted by the Spanish squad again as part of his post season testing plans.
Ebbesvik will also test for Arden, DAMS and FMSI during five days of running planned for the end of the year.
"I am really looking forward to trying the new
GP2 car, which I am sure will suit my driving style very well," Ebbesvik, who is looking to become the first Norwegian driver in GP2, said. "I am also really pleased with the teams we are testing with, but must also thank those who made offers that we were unable to accept as there are only so many days available.
"My aim is simple; to do a good job for the teams and my sponsors, so that we are in a strong position to negotiate a good deal for 2009. Spanish
F3 has been great from me, giving me superb experience, almost exclusively at tracks that GP2, and indeed F1, test and race at. Winning in front of the
GP2 and F1 team bosses on the street circuit was just the icing on the cake!"
John Miller, team principal with Ebbesvik's current West-Tec outfit, admitted that he felt his driver had the potential to be a star draw in future, despite Norway being more universally known for producing stars of the rally stages as opposed to stars of the track.
"Christian took a very timely, not to mention emphatic,
F3 win in Valencia," he said. "This got tremendous coverage in Norway, and I know the switchboard was jammed with Norwegian fans calling and texting in to wish him well when he was co-commentating on the
GP2 races for Norwegian TV.
"He can really capture the imagination of the Norwegian people, for whom motorsport is a big draw, albeit more commonly for rallying as opposed to racing. Even at
F3 level he is fast becoming a big star in Norway. We had offers to test from almost every team, and I sure I will be called on to negotiate a strong drive for TCE for 2009."