Manor to run King and Haryanto in Abu Dhabi test

Manor has announced it will run Jordan King and Rio Haryanto in the Pirelli tyre test following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

All ten teams are remaining in Abu Dhabi for a one-day test at the Yas Marina Circuit on the Tuesday following the grand prix as Pirelli carries out tyre work ahead of the 2016 season. Manor will give development driver King his first taste of an F1 car after the GP2 rookie attended races with the team in both the United States and Mexico recently.

“The Development Driver role has been a fantastic opportunity for me this season and I have enjoyed and benefited from every minute spent with the team," King said. "The European rounds of GP2 Series mirrored the F1 races, so it was very easy to combine my racing commitments with spending time shadowing the Manor drivers and engineers.

"In Austin and Mexico I was able to fully immerse myself in the F1 environment and I’m learning about how things work on and off the race track. Naturally, what I’ve been looking forward to most is the chance to drive the MR03B, and I can’t wait to bring everything I’ve learned together in Abu Dhabi next week.”

While King is currently 12th in the GP2 drivers' championship, Haryanto sits in fourth place towards the end of what is his fourth season in the series. Haryanto has tested for Manor during young driver tests in both 2010 and 2012 and says the run in Abu Dhabi will allow him to show how much he has improved since his last outing.

“I’m really looking forward to being back with the team at the Abu Dhabi test," Haryanto said. "In many ways it is essentially the same team, although the car is quite different. I feel much better prepared for this test, and after a very competitive season in GP2, I can’t wait to show how much I have developed to become a more complete driver.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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