If iSport were the 'nearly men' of 2005, Piquet Sports would have only just pushed ahead of it, having taken a solitary win, in the wet, at Spa.
Nelson Piquet Jr was another to show commendable pace throughout the year, but never quite converted it into race wins before the trip to Belgium, and saw his title assault derailed by a string of mechanical problems mid-season.
The squad is the only one in the 13-strong field to remain unchanged for this year, with Xandi Negrao again partnering the son of the three-time world champion. Although he was largely considered a backmarker with much to learn - not least the circuits - last season, Negrao has already shown that he could be a contender second time around, often lapping close to Piquet's times in testing, and suggesting that he could be a podium contender if all goes well for the now entirely family team, following last season's acrimonious split with Hitech.
With its 2005 line-up now ensconced at Super Nova, DAMS has had to cast its net in search of new talent. In place of Lopez and Fauzy, Jean-Paul Driot has drafted in second year driver Ferdinando Monfardini and newcomer Franck Perera, both of whom have the potential to cause an upset in 2006.
Monfardini took his time to show his form last year, having only arrived in F3000 at the tail-end of the series' swansong. As the year wore on, however, he edged closer to the front, eventually just missing out on a podium at Monza - after which he was dumped by Durango in favour of the disaffected Gianmaria Bruni. After sitting out the penultimate round of the year at Spa, Monfardini returned with Coloni in Bahrain, only to suffer one of more painful, and humiliating, retirements of the year. Perera, meanwhile, steps up from the F3 Euroseries after generally failing to set the world alight, but somehow retaining his Toyota backing. Already seemingly at home in GP2, the Frenchman set the pace at the Barcelona test and could be a surprise package.
