Williams team to run Nakajima in Brazil

The AT&T Williams team today confirmed that Kazuki Nakajima will race for the team in the final Grand Prix of the 2007 season at Interlagos in Brazil in a fortnight’s time. The 22-year old Japanese driver, this year’s GP2 series Rookie of the Year, is the team’s official test and reserve driver. He has covered over 7,000km in the FW29 in testing and has represented the team at five Grands Prix as a Friday driver.

The intention behind Kazuki’s nomination is to build and develop his experience and is not an evaluation exercise for a race seat in 2008. AT&T Williams Team Principal, Frank Williams, said, “You cannot assess a driver’s capability on the basis of one race but this is an ideal opportunity to develop Kazuki’s experience. I am confident he will approach the race in a very workmanlike and focused way." For his part, Kazuki Nakajima said, “I am very grateful to the team who have given me this opportunity. I hope I now know the car very well and thankfully have done some Friday driving as recently as Shanghai. This is a chance I intend to grab with both hands and repay the faith the team are showing in me with a strong performance."

[Editor's Note: Is there anyone out there that does not think Nakajima driving in Brazil has everything to do about engine supplier Toyota buying the ride? Both Honda and Toyota have been supporting Japanese drivers for years in CART and F1 and they have yet to come up with that can get the job done. They would not get a ride if not for this support by the deep pockets of Honda and Toyota.]