Dragon Racing has confirmed that one of their two seats for the upcoming season has been taken by Jose Maria Lopez.
The 35 year old Argentinian has been signed up for a second season with the Dragon team, having joined the US squad at the third round in Marrakesh last season.
He has been the first driver announced by the team, with the second cockpit yet to be announced.
Heading into the new season as a fresh start with the new Gen2 cars, Lopez says that he is “really excited to continue with the team and I am looking forward to being on the track to achieve our objectives.”
Jay Penske, team boss and owner of Dragon Racing, welcomed Lopez onboard for the season by saying: “José showed a lot of promise in Season 4 and has been an invaluable asset in the development of the package for Season 5. He is a real racer, and I am confident that his capabilities, paired with the evolution of our engineering organization will prove to be a winning formula this season. I look forward to seeing the results.”
Lopez says the experience he has gleaned over the time already with Dragon, as well as the previous season with DS Virgin Racing, means that he is expecting to be more competitive right from the off this year: “[My] expectations are to be competitive from the start to achieve top spot results. The team has put in an incredible effort during this, and I am looking forward to working with them to keep improving and evolving throughout the season.”
Dragon’s Penske EV-3 has been shown off on social media but is yet to be formally launched. A strong possibility for the second seat at the team is Maximillian Gunther, current reserve driver, who is expected to replace Jerome D’Ambrosio.
