Despite having a less-than-distinguished year in F3000, South African Alan van der Merwe is said to be in the running to test drive for BAR Honda – or another F1 team – in 2005.
Despite having a less-than-distinguished year in F3000, South African Alan van der Merwe is said to be in the running to test drive for BAR Honda – or another F1 team – in 2005.
According to , the 24-year-old former British F3 champion will be evaluated by the Brackley-based team in the upcoming weeks and could fill a post as test driver next year, either alongside Anthony Davidson or in his place, depending on the whether the English driver is recruited by another team (he is one of the drivers in line for the second seat at Williams next year).
According to a well-placed source, Van der Merwe, who publicly unveiled the South African A1 Grand Prix car at Kyalami over the weekend, was in talks with a number of teams about a possible testing position next year.
Van der Merwe’s plans for 2005 also include a race drive in GP2, which replaces Formula 3000 next year, and he is on the verge of concluding a contract with Tokyo Sexwale, South Africa’s A1 GP team owner, to fill the driver’s seat for the team when the first season gets underway in September.
