Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon will join Stefano Coletti in testing for Toro Rosso during this winter's young driver sessions in Abu Dhabi.
The 18-year-old Ceccon won this year's Auto GP title at the first attempt while also contesting a partial GP2 campaign with Coloni. Ceccon and Coletti will each get one and a half days of running during the Nov. 15-17 test, with Coletti taking the car all day on the Tuesday and on the Thursday morning, and Ceccon having Wednesday all day and Thursday afternoon.
"Scuderia Toro Rosso is well used to training young drivers and we are pleased to add Coletti and Ceccon to the list of students who have been through the Scuderia Toro Rosso school," STR team boss Franz Tost said. He added that the team had looked outside the Red Bull driver development scheme for its Abu Dhabi test lineup as it did not feel any of the drivers on the program were ready for a Formula 1 test.
"Neither of them is part of the Red Bull Young Driver Program, which is down to the fact that those drivers currently on the program are still too young and inexperienced to deal with a Formula 1 car," said Tost.
Toro Rosso ran its current third driver Jean-Eric Vergne in the sessions last year.