Andy Soucek

Infobox racing driver
name = Andy Christian Soucek


pixels =
caption =
nationality = flagicon|AUT/flagicon|ESP
date of birth = Birth date and age|1985|06|14
place of birth = Madrid (Spain)
current series = GP2 Series
first year = 2007
current team = Super Nova
car number = 7
former teams = David Price Racing
starts = 39
wins = 0
poles = 0
fastest laps = 0
best finish = 14th
year = 2008
prev series = Spanish F3 Championship
prev series years = 2002-2005
titles = Spanish F3 Champion
title years = 2005
awards =
award years =

Andy Christian Soucek (born June 14, 1985 in Madrid, Spain) is a professional racecar driver best known for winning the 2005 Spanish Formula Three Championship.

Career

Soucek's father is Austrian, and he has Austrian and Spanish [according to his remodeled website he holds dual citizenship] nationality, although he was born in Spain and has spent most of his life there. He races under the Spanish flag because he "feels Spanish". ["Autosport" magazine, August 24 2006 (p.50)] Soucek's career started in professional karting events during 1997, although he would not make a formula debut until his Portuguese Formula Ford drive of 2001. In 2002 he continued with karting whilst driving in Spanish Formula Three. In 2003 he ended his karting commitments, moving to the EV team. He remained with EV during 2004 but would also drive two races for the GTA team. 2005 would be his key year, though, with Soucek's move to the Llusia team paying off after he won the title.

After being in contention for the 2006 Championship in the World Series by Renault, Soucek signed to race in the GP2 Series for 2007 with the DPR team. He remained with DPR for the first round of the 2008 GP2 Asia Series, but was dropped after signing for rival team FMS International for the premier 2008 championship. Surprisingly, with only five days to the 2008 championship start, FMS International terminated Soucek's contract unilaterally, replacing him with fellow spaniard Roldán Rodríguez [http://www.crash.net/motorsport/gp2/news/162301-0/soucek_replaced_at_fmsi.html] . This left Soucek without time to find a new team in time for the season start. A legal dispute resulted between Soucek and FMS International [http://www.Motorsport-Total.com/formelsport/news/2008/04/Gericht_gibt_Soucek_Recht_08042509.html] .

However, he returned to race in the series after one round of the championship as a replacement for the injured Christian Bakkerud in the Super Nova team. [cite news| title =Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud | publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67175| date =2008-05-06| accessdate =2008-05-06] After two races with Super Nova, Soucek then returned to the DPR team where he replaced Giacomo Ricci, himself substituting for the injured Michael Herck. [cite news| title =Soucek to stand in for Herck at DPR| publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67569| date =2008-05-19| accessdate =2008-05-23] and scoring his first championship point. Following his stint with DPR, Soucek returned once more to Super Nova as a permanent replacement for Bakkerud. [cite news| title =Soucek secures Super Nova drive | publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68386| date =2008-06-17| accessdate =2008-06-17] He achieved one podium (at Hungaroring) and several more point finishes and ended the season tied with Roldán Rodríguez as best spaniard.

Andy Soucek also represented the Brazilian side Corinthians (managed by EuroInternational group) in the 1st race of the 2008 Superleague Formula season, as Corinthians main driver Antonio Pizzonia was unable to participate, because of his schedule in Stock Car Brasil.

From the second race on, Soucek has signed for Atlético de Madrid to drive their car for the remainder of the 2008 Superleague Formula season. [http://www.superleagueformula.com/superleague/News-Media/News-archive/Atletico-de-Madrid-set-to-battle-in-Superleague-Formula]

He is sponsored by Knight Frank and Interwetten .

Racing record

Complete GP2 Series results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)*Season in progress

References

External links

* [http://www.andysoucek.com/ Personal web site] In Spanish (clicking "Palmarés" key, there's a pdf CV also in English and German)