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Alpine have unveiled their junior academy line-up for the 2023 season.
Jack Doohan and Victor Martins have retained their places in the Academy for another season, as Martins now joins Doohan in F2 at ART GP and Virtuosi respectively.
Having finished sixth last season with three wins, Doohan will now be expected to fight for the title this time round as the third-highest placed returning driver from 2022 but faces tough competition from Theo Pourchaire and Ayumu Iwasa.
Martins meanwhile graduates to F2 as the reigning F3 champion where consistency was key to his title success, which he will be expected to replicate in F2 after a period of adaption this season.
Gabriele Mini is one of two new junior signings as he steps up to F3 with Hitech GP, alongside Nikola Tsolov who will drive for ART GP, as the Bulgarian becomes a full-time academy member after previously being affiliated with the team in 2022.
Tsolov isn’t the only affiliate member promoted to a full academy status with Abbi Pulling, Matheus Ferreira and Kean Nakamura also handed full academy status for this season.
Pulling will compete in F1 Academy Series whilst Ferreira and Nakamura will race in Italian F4 and Karting respectively.
Aiden Neate completes Alpine’s Academy line-up for this season and will confirm his race plans in due course, having participated in F4 UAE during the winter.
Olli Caldwell meanwhile has graduated to Alpine’s Sportscar Programme which is part of their long-term plans to align the academy with professional racing within Alpine’s wider motorsport portfolio.
Alpine Academy Director, Julian Rouse believes that this year’s academy line-up will be “competitive” but iterated that Doohan and Martins will both be expected to repeatedly fight for podiums, if not victories and the title this season.
Rouse also added that Mini and Tsolov will both be expected to be “competitive from the get-go” in F3 this season
On the decision to move Caldwell out of F2 and into sportcar racing after just one season with Campos, Rouse said that this move will mark “… the start of a much closer and collaborative project where we at the Academy aim to count on the expertise of Alpine’s various racing divisions to give our drivers experience and opportunities.”
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