The Asian series has two more events scheduled for the 2009/10 season of the championship, and Parente will be there in each of them. Apart from the fact that he managed to find a drive for the upcoming 4 races of the GP2 Asia Series (2 for each event), the most important thing is that he managed to bounce back from his loss of sponsorship (and prospects, we might add) a couple of weeks ago.
“Everything happened so fast and I only had time to grab my stuff and leave. I don't know the team's staff, but I know they are very pleased with my presence and it's an excellent opportunity to drive a GP2 car once more,” said Parente.
The Portuguese driver initially signed a reserve driver deal with Virgin Racing for the 2010 season of Formula One, while joined in that position by Brazilian driver Luiz Razia. However, a last-minute drop in sponsorship backing has made him lose that job, while also endangering his prospects of landing a seat in the upcoming GP2 Series campaign.
This will mark Parente's return to the GP2 Asia Series after one year of absence, as he previously contested in the championship during the 2008/09 campaign, with Meritus. His CV in the Main Series is not something one would neglect, as he managed to become race winner in each of the last 2 seasons (Super Nova in 2008 and Ocean Racing Technology in 2009).
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