Piquet GP

Piquet GP
Company type	Private
Industry	Motorsport
Predecessor	GP Racing, Piquet Sports, Minardi Piquet Sports
Founded	1997 (as GP Racing)
Founder	Nelson Piquet (Piquet Sports), Tancredi Pagiaro (GP Racing)
Fate	Rebranded as Rapax Team
Headquarters	Brazil
Area served	International (GP2 Series, Euroseries 3000, etc.)
Key people	Nelson Piquet (founder), Filipe Vargas (manager of Piquet Sports)
Products	Motorsport racing teams and entries

Piquet GP, initially known as Minardi Piquet Sports and Piquet Sports, traces its origins back to GP Racing, founded in 1997, and Piquet Sports, established in 2000 by three-time world champion Nelson Piquet. The two entities combined forces in 2007 to create "Minardi Piquet Sports". The "Minardi" designation was removed the following year. Early in 2009, the outfit was sold and rebranded as Piquet GP before eventually becoming Rapax Team after ending its association with Piquet.

GP Racing

GP Racing was launched in 1997 by Tancredi Pagiaro, initially competing in the Italian Formula Three Championship before stepping up to International Formula 3000 in 1998. The team’s debut season yielded modest results, scoring just two points. In 1999, GP Racing expanded to field two cars but did not accumulate points in International F3000; however, it entered Italian F3000 late that year with Thomas Biagi, who managed a fourth-place finish despite limited appearances.

The year 2000 saw Biagi alongside Gabriele Gardel contesting Italian F3000 for GP Racing, with Biagi finishing fifth and Gardel failing to score; the team ended sixth overall. Biagi’s performance improved markedly in 2001, capturing GP Racing’s inaugural victory at Donington Park and securing second place in the drivers' championship; the team likewise finished as runners-up in the teams' standings. Subsequent seasons maintained steady results: fourth place in 2002 with drivers Alessandro Piccolo and Martin Basso; third place in the 2003 Euroseries 3000 featuring Fabrizio Del Monte (runner-up driver), Roman Rusinov, and Maxime Hodencq.

In 2004, GP Racing remained a strong contender in Superfund Euro 3000, with Del Monte narrowly missing out on the title by a single point following a late-season incident involving teammate Tor Graves; the team consistently achieved podium finishes. Continuing participation in Italian F3000 through 2005 resulted in a third-place finish in the teams’ championship with drivers including Del Monte, Juan Cáceres (fifth overall), Alex Lloyd, and Toni Vilander. Additionally, GP Racing made a one-off entry into the LMES Championship at Monza.

For the 2006 season, GP Racing joined forces with Gian Carlo Minardi to form Minardi Team by GP Racing for Euroseries 3000. Despite utilizing six different drivers—such as Cáceres, Christiano Rocha, Roldan Rodriguez, Diego Nunes, Davide Rigon, and Fausto Ippoliti—the team secured second place in the teams' championship. Individually, Rocha finished fourth while Rodriguez and Cáceres placed sixth and seventh respectively.

Piquet Sports

Established in 2000 by Brazilian triple Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet, Piquet Sports was created primarily to support his son, Nelson Piquet Jr., under the management of Filipe Vargas. The team made its debut competing in the South American Formula Three Championship, where Piquet Jr. finished fifth overall with 77 points and helped secure fourth place for the team in the standings.

In 2001, Piquet Sports dominated the South American series by winning thirteen of eighteen races and clinching both Drivers' and Teams' championships with a commanding points margin over competitors. By 2003, the team expanded into the British Formula 3 Championship, where Piquet Jr. achieved six victories and five podiums to finish third in the championship.

During 2004, Piquet Sports divided its efforts between British F3 with Piquet Jr. and South American F3 featuring Brazilian driver Alexandre Negrão, both drivers securing their respective titles with a combined total of sixteen wins.

Progressing to the newly created GP2 series, recognized as Formula One's main feeder category, Piquet Sports entered reigning champions Piquet Jr. and Negrão. An initial collaboration with British outfit HiTech Racing ended midway through 2005. In their first GP2 season, the team finished sixth overall, highlighted by Piquet Jr.'s victory at Spa-Francorchamps.

The pinnacle of Piquet Sports' success came in 2006 when Piquet Jr. won four races and was a strong contender for the Drivers' Championship, ultimately finishing second by twelve points behind Lewis Hamilton. The team also secured second place in the Teams' Championship behind Hamilton's ART Grand Prix squad.

Following this peak season, Piquet Jr. left to become a test driver for the Renault Formula One team.

Fusion of GP Racing and Piquet Sports

Prior to the 2007 season, GP Racing and Piquet Sports united to create "Minardi by Piquet Sports." Spanish driver Roldán Rodríguez took over from Piquet Jr. During the 2007 GP2 Series season, the team encountered difficulties; Negrão was unable to secure a lead and managed just a single podium finish. They accumulated 22 points, placing them outside the top ten in the Teams' Championship standings. Conversely, in Euro Series 3000, GP Racing achieved both the drivers' and teams' championships, with Davide Rigon and Diego Nunes completing a one-two finish.

In 2008, the Minardi branding was discontinued. The team experienced an upswing as Italian driver Marco Bonanomi claimed victory in the newly established Asia series, while newcomer Pastor Maldonado, who had previously won Monaco's race, secured the team's inaugural pole position at the opening round in Catalunya.

That year marked their final participation in Euro Series 3000. Fabio Onidi joined the squad alongside returning Rodríguez, who shared driving responsibilities with Maldonado and Fabrizio Crestani. Onidi narrowly lost the drivers' championship by just two points to Nicolas Prost, with Crestani finishing fifth overall. The team fell short of reclaiming the teams' championship, finishing eight points behind Bull Racing.

For the 2009 season, now rebranded as Piquet GP, Rodríguez returned to partner with Durango alumnus Alberto Valerio.

Disputes

Piquet Sports encountered controversy notably in 2002 when Piquet Jr. clinched the title amid allegations concerning "illegal testing." The team justified alterations made to the Dallara chassis by classifying it as a "prototype" version, thereby avoiding sanctions.

GP2 Series

GP2 Series Performance Summary
Year	Team name	Car	Drivers	Races	Victories	Pole positions	Fastest laps	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2005	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Hitech Piquet Sports	Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Nelson Piquet Jr.	23	1	0	0	46	8th	6th
2005		Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alexandre Negrão	23	0	0	0	4	19th	6th
2006	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Piquet Sports	Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Nelson Piquet Jr.	21	4	6	3	102	2nd	2nd
2006		Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alexandre Negrão	21	0	0	0	13	13th	2nd
2007	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Minardi Piquet Sports	Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alexandre Negrão	21	0	0	0	8	20th	11th
2007		Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome	Spain Roldán Rodríguez	21	0	0	0	14	17th	11th
2008	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Piquet Sports	Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome	Template:Country data VEN Template:Namespace detect showall Pastor Maldonado	20	1	2	4	60	5th	3rd
2008		Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome	Template:Country data UAE Template:Namespace detect showall Andreas Zuber	20	0	0	1	32	9th	3rd
2009	rowspan=2 \| Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Piquet GP	Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome	Template:Country data ESP Template:Namespace detect showall Roldán Rodríguez	20	0	0	0	25	11th	7th
2009	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alberto Valerio	Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome	20	1	0	0	16	15th		7th

Comprehensive Results

(Legend) (Entries in bold denote pole positions) (Entries in italics represent fastest laps)

Year	Chassis Engine Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	T.C.	Points
2005	GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone		SMR FEA	SMR SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	NÜR FEA	NÜR SPR	MAG FEA	MAG SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HOC FEA	HOC SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	IST FEA	IST SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	6th	50
		Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Nelson Piquet Jr.	14†	6	5	2	11†	5	3	Ret	DSQ	Ret	Ret	3	8	15†	10	4	6	3	Ret	1	14	Ret	15

Year	Chassis / Engine / Tyres	Drivers
2006 GP2 Series	Dallara GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone		115
	align=left \| Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Nelson Piquet Jr.	1 4 5 2 Ret 19† 4 2 12† 4 5 4 2 13 DNS 1 1 1 5 2 6
	align=left \| Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alexandre Sarnes Negrão	13 7 Ret 11 7 7 7 18 Ret Ret 12 5 Ret 16 9 5 Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret \|

Year	Chassis / Engine / Tyres	Drivers
2007 GP2 Series	Dallara GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone		22
	align=left \| Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alexandre Sarnes Negrão	Ret 15 Ret DNS 15 Ret Ret Ret 18 12 10 Ret 13 7 2 14 Ret 19† 16 15 18 \|
	align=left \| Template:Country data ESP Template:Namespace detect showall Roldán Rodríguez	Ret 12 4 Ret Ret 16 9 8 11 10 9 6 3 11 8 Ret 8 15 10 Ret 17 \|

Year	Chassis / Engine / Tyres	Drivers
2008 GP2 Series	Dallara GP2/08 Renault Template:Bridgestone		92
	align=left \| Template:Country data UAE Template:Namespace detect showall Andreas Zuber	3 Ret 3 Ret 11 17 5 8 7 11 11† 2 2 7 Ret Ret DSQ Ret Ret 10 \|
	align=left \| Template:Country data VEN Template:Namespace detect showall Pastor Maldonado	12 Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret 3 7 Ret 15† 6 17 5 18† 2 Ret 3 1 2 4 \|

Year	Chassis / Engine / Tyres	Drivers
2009 GP2 Series	Dallara GP2/08 Renault Template:Bridgestone		41
	align=left \| Template:Country data ESP Template:Namespace detect showall Roldán Rodríguez	Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 17 12 9 2 Ret Ret 13 5 Ret 5 2 13 7 5 Ret \|
	align=left \| Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Alberto Valerio	15 13 Ret Ret 4 6 1 7 Ret 17 Ret 21† 17 10 Ret 12 Ret 11 Ret 7 \|

GP2 Asia Series

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole position) (Entries in italics represent fastest lap)

Season	Chassis Engine Tires	Competitors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	T.C.	Points
2008	GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone		DUB1 Feature	DUB1 Sprint	SEN Feature	SEN Sprint	SEP Feature	SEP Sprint	BHR Feature	BHR Sprint	DUB2 Feature	DUB2 Sprint			10th place	9 points
		Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Marcello Puglisi	16th	Retired	Did Not Start	18th	13th	9th	18th	Retired	Retired	Retired
		Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Marco Bonanomi	20th	13th	Retired	8th	Retired	15th	Retired	Retired	6th	Winner (1st)
2008–09	GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone		SHI Feature	SHI Sprint	DUB3 Feature	DUB3 Sprint	BHR1 Feature	BHR1 Sprint	LSL Feature	LSL Sprint	SEP Feature	SEP Sprint	BHR2 Feature	BHR2 Sprint	Runner-up (2nd)	59 points
		Template:Country data ESP Template:Namespace detect showall Roldán Rodríguez	Victory	Sixth place	Third place	Collision	Sixth place	Twenty-third place	Retired	Seventeenth place	Fourth place	Twelfth place	Second place	Retired
		Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Diego Nunes	Twelfth place	Retired	Retired	Collision	Thirteenth place	Twenty-second place	Eleventh place	Twelfth place	Victory	Fourth place	Victory	Sixth place
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series	Dallara GP2/05 Renault Template:Bridgestone	2009 Yas Marina GP2 Asia Series round	2009 Yas Marina GP2 Asia Series round	2010 Yas Marina GP2 Asia Series round	2010 Yas Marina GP2 Asia Series round	2010 Bahrain International Circuit GP2 Asia Series rounds	2010 Bahrain International Circuit GP2 Asia Series rounds						13th position	0 points
		Template:Flagicon\BUL Vladimir Arabadzhiev	Retired	Retired
		Template:Flagicon\ITA Daniel Zampieri	15th position	Retired

Euroseries 3000

Euro Series 3000
Year	Car	Competitors	Victories	Pole positions	Fastest laps	Points scored	D.C.	T.C.
1999	Lola T96/50-Zytek	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Thomas Biagi	0	1	0	16	4th	6th
2000	Lola T96/50-Zytek	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Thomas Biagi	0	0	2	15	5th	6th
2000	Lola T96/50-Zytek	Template:Country data SUI Template:Namespace detect showall Gabriele Gardel	0	0	0	0	24th	6th
2001	Lola T96/50-Zytek	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Thomas Biagi	1	2	0	32	2nd	2nd
2001	Lola T96/50-Zytek	Template:Country data SUI Template:Namespace detect showall Gabriele Gardel	0	0	1	5	9th	2nd
2002	Lola B99/50-Zytek	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Alessandro Piccolo	1	2	2	28	4th	4th
		Template:Country data ARG Template:Namespace detect showall Martin Basso	0	0	1	10	8th
		Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Giovanni Montanari	0	0	0	1	14th

Year	Car	Competitors	Victories	Pole positions	Fastest laps	Points scored
(2003)