Renger van der Zande will embark on his second season in the F3 Euroseries in familiar surroundings, having opted to re-sign with Prema Powerteam for 2008.
Having claimed a debut season win in the series at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya in 2007, the talented Dutchman was targeted by teams in higher series, and enjoyed promising tests in both the World Series by Renault and GP2 before deciding to continue with Prema in F3. Supported by Dutch company Trust International, the 21-year old was listed among the possible targets for renamed GP2 outfit Trust Team Arden, but that seat is now expected to go to fellow countryman Yelmer Buurman.
“I am really happy to continue my race career with Prema in the F3 Euroseries," van der Zande commented, "Last year, I learned a lot and was able to improve myself as a driver. Although we got a really interesting offer to race in GP2, we decided that we want to shoot for the [Euroseries] title. I want to win this season and I believe I can achieve this together with Prema - the team and I have the experience and the ambition to go for the title."
"I really felt this was the best decision and, as a Mercedes junior driver, I'm glad Mercedes supports my decision. Prema improved itself a lot last year and I'm glad they were willing to employ the successful engineer Wilmar Franssen. Hopefully we can build on my victory in 2007 and become a regular visitor to the podium in 2008.”
The sometime rookie driver for A1 Team Netherlands in the A1GP series, van der Zande will concentrate on his F3 campaign this year.
"We have the ambition to fight for the championship and believe we can achieve our goal with Renger," Prema team boss Angelo Rosin said, "Last year, he proved he is a driver that can improve the car and fight for race wins, and we are happy that we can continue to race with him in the upcoming season. I'm excited to see the season get underway in April."
