The other team to have both its cars appearing regularly at the sharp end of the times in pre-season was former F3000 king Super Nova International, which appears to have struck gold in the shape of second year pilot Luca Filippi and reigning British F3 champion Mike Conway. Filippi showed a wayward streak while running with two different teams in 2006, but appears to have got his act together under the watchful eye of David Sears, while Conway comes to GP2 having added a consummate Macau GP triumph to his domestic F3 success. Both may start the season as dark horses, but that status could change if early results go their way.
Another star of F3000, Arden appeared to be on the wane in 200-6, despite fielding the talented combination of Ammermuller and Nicolas Lapierre. With both departed, Christian Horner's team has boldly opted for the untried partnership of Adrian Zaugg and Bruno Senna. While the Brazilian carries one of the most famous names in motorsport, he has also shown at least a degree of the talent enjoyed by uncle Ayrton, winning races in British F3, while Zaugg has made a rapid rise from Formula Renault, having started on pole for his first World Series by Renault event and won his maiden outing in A1 Grand Prix. Arden may have struck gold, but whether it shines this year depends on how long both take to get to grips with GP2 in race weekend conditions.
As Glock showed in 2006, stepping back from
F1 to GP2 may not necessarily be a bad thing, and that point was underlined by a driver in his second year in the series. Giorgio Pantano endured a miserable time at Jordan before stepping back and running at the front of GP2's inaugural campaign with Super Nova. Thought to be heading for the US, he then resurfaced at FMS International in 2006, taking wins throughout the year. That, it was thought would take him to bigger and better things, but the Italian spent the winter testing - and setting the pace - for minnow Campos Racing and, having signed with the Spanish operation, should take it from the back of the grid to the very front. Pantano is joined by Russian Vitaly Petrov, who tested the waters late last year with DPR, but has yet to set the timesheets alight.
![Lucas di Grassi - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/297629.jpg)
