As had been rumoured in recent weeks, Antonio Pizzonia's time in the GP2 series has come to an end, with the FMSI team confirming that he will be replaced for the upcoming races at Magny Cours.
The former Jaguar and
Williams F1 driver elected to move into GP2 for the 2007 season having spent last season running in a part programme in Champ Car, but was unable to match his pre-season testing form when the actual racing action got underway – failing to start inside the top ten thus far and finishing in the points on just one occasion, picking up a single point in Monaco.
It means the high Brazilian is already 36 points behind points leader
Timo Glock with three of the eleven rounds run and has paid the ultimate price in losing his seat.
"We wish to thank Antonio Pizzonia for his contribution," a statement issued by the team read, "and especially for his work with the set up and development of the FMSI car during the pre-championship tests."
The hot favourite to replace Pizzonia looked set to be Ernesto Viso – especially after the Venezuelen appeared in the FMSI car during the recent test at Paul Ricard, setting the ninth quickest time on day one and the fourth quickest time on day two.
However, the team has elected to go with another driver with past experience, with Adam Carroll getting the nod to partner Jason Tahinci as the Northern Irish driver makes a surprise return to the GP2 arena.
Carroll, who enjoyed a strong season with Super Nova in 2005 but struggled following the switch to Racing Engineering last year, is currently racing for the Futurecom TME outfit in the DTM.