Founded | 2002 (as BCN Competición) 2008 (as Ocean Racing Technology) |
---|---|
Folded | 2012 |
Base | Perafita, Portugal |
Team principal(s) |
Tiago Monteiro José Guedes |
Former series |
A1 Grand Prix Formula 3000 World Series by Nissan Euro Formula 3000 GP2 Asia Series GP2 Series GP3 Series |
Noted drivers |
Andrea Belicchi Kevin Ceccon Esteban Guerrieri Álvaro Parente |
Website | http://www.oceanracingtech.com/ |
Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased from BCN, a team which never enjoyed much success in GP2 (two podiums in four years). The driver and the entrepreneur created a structure based on recognized professionals and quickly started to secure first-class results, making it possible for the Portuguese Racing team to fight with the more advanced teams in the FIA accredited championship that is the main feeder series for Formula One.
While BCN was the only GP2 team that had yet to win a race (contributing factors being BCN Competición's frequent use of a rotating selection of paying drivers), the change to ORT meant a full transformation (the team kept only the frames, discarding all the rest, and hiring new staff). In their first year in GP2, Álvaro Parente won the first race for the team at the 2009 Belgian GP2 Feature Race, in a round where he also got pole position and fastest lap.
The team was created in 2002 and their debut season was in Formula Nissan with Andrea Belicchi and Carlos Martin as drivers.
In 2003 and 2004, BCN raced in International Formula 3000/GP2 Series, finishing as runner-up in both the drivers and teams championships in 2004.
In 2005-06, the team was involved in the new A1 Grand Prix series managing the A1 Team South Africa car, however DAMS took over the team for 2006-07.
For 2003, BCN stepped up to International Formula 3000. In their first year on that series, they were known as a rent-a-drive team due to high number of drivers who passed by team that year (drivers such as Will Langhorne, Alessandro Piccolo, Ferdinando Monfardini and Rob Nguyen). This year, it had many financial difficulties and virtually did not have a big sponsor.