Paul Jeffrey
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"We look forward to providing Rio and Jordan with the opportunity to drive the MR03B in Abu Dhabi next week," Marussia team principal John Booth said.
"For Jordan, this is a planned part of his 2015 role as development driver, following a season spent with the team in an educational capacity. Rio has of course driven two of our cars in previous tests. In 2010, he was considered to be at the very tender age of 17 years old, but we knew he had an exciting future ahead of him.
"Both drivers have extensive experience of running Pirelli tyres in GP2, and specifically the many GP2 tests that have been held in Abu Dhabi, so this leaves them well placed to help us play our part in Pirelli's evaluation programme next week."
"Both drivers have extensive experience of running Pirelli tyres in GP2, and specifically the many GP2 tests that have been held in Abu Dhabi, so this leaves them well placed to help us play our part in Pirelli's evaluation programme next week."
King, son of former Sainsbury CEO Justin King, is just 21 years of age and currently drives for Racing Engineering in his debut season of the official Formula One support series GP2, where he sits in 12th position in the standings.
A former MRF Formula 1600 India champion and British Formula 3 champion in 2013, King has a decent pedigree in junior formulae and has been working with the British team in a development driver capacity this season.
“In Austin and Mexico I was able to fully immerse myself in the F1 environment and I'm learning about how things work on and off the race track. Naturally, what I've been looking forward to most is the chance to drive the MR03B, and I can't wait to bring everything I've learned together in Abu Dhabi next week."
Indonesia’s Haryanto meanwhile is no stranger to the team having occupied testing duties for the squad back in 2010 when they ran under the guise of Virgin Racing, and again as Marussia as recently as 2012. Currently having a solid season for Campos Racing in GP2 this year (his fourth consecutive year in the category) and finds himself in fourth place and on course to finish in his best ever position in the series standings at seasons end.
“I'm really looking forward to being back with the team at the Abu Dhabi test. In many ways it is essentially the same team, although the car is quite different. I feel much better prepared for this test, and after a very competitive season in GP2, I can't wait to show how much I have developed to become a more complete driver."
The one-day Pirelli test will run for 12 hours on Tuesday December 1, and will focus on helping the official tyre supplier develop their 2016 slick compounds.
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