GRABKO GRAND PRIX SIGNS TWO NEW DRIVERS

Grabko, Bour, & Svensson on track (Gokartcentralen: 2015/16 Open GP - RND 10)

​In a media brief released today from the team, Grabko Grand Prix made the major announcement that they had secured the services of Erkin Bour and Daniel Svensson away from EB Karting and Lilleman Racing, respectively.

Both championship winning drivers have been signed on one year deals, and the atmosphere in the team was absolutely buzzing after the announcement, which was made at the Gothenburg Gokartcenter in Torslanda.

Team Principal, Dan Grabko, had this to say to the gathered press, "We couldn't be more excited or more proud to announce our first team expansion in this way. Securing the services of drivers of this caliber just shows the ambition levels this team has. In Erkin and Daniel we've got two of the best karting talents in the region in the team. With these guys in racing seats, Grabko Grand Prix is looking to be a real force to reckon with in all the competitions we enter."

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Daniel Svensson (Gokartcentralen: 2015/16 Open GP Championship - RND 10)

Alongside the headline announcement, the team also released details on its expanded presence in local series. In addition to the Gokartcentralen Open GP Electric Karting Championship, in which it will now be running 3 karts, it has made an official entry into the 2016/17 Gothenburg Gokartcenter Winter LeMans Series as well as the 2017 Gothenburg Gokartcenter Summer Cup, and the prestigious 2017 Lidköping Motorstadion LeMans 10 Hour Endurance Race.

The increased presence in the region is all part of the team's planned growth strategy.

"We're going to see increased exposure and return on investment for the team sponsors, increased success for the team on the track, and increased opportunities for expansion. It's a winning situation for everyone involved, and we couldn't be happier," said Dan.

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Erkin Bour (Gokartcentralen: 2015/16 Open GP Championship - RND 10)

Erkin Bour agreed, saying, "Yeah, I'm pretty excited. As a driver, you always want to be part of an ambitious and serious setup, and that's exactly what you get with this team. There is a good feeling here, everyone is hungry for success, and that's exactly what I need to be surrounded with to keep my motivation levels high as a driver."

Daniel Svensson had this to say, "Really glad to be standing here today. These guys have a proper setup here, so in the end it was an easy decision. It was this team's passion and enthusiasm that won me over, and I can't wait to get started!"

The venue for the announcement wasn't a coincidence either as the driver trio took their first testing session as teammates together. Both the newly signed drivers were veterans at the indoor circuit, but Dan Grabko had not driven here in anger in over 6 years, so he had som catching up to do.

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​The team drove three sessions, with both the new signings driving two of each while taking turns answering questions from the gathered media, while Dan was assigned to all three to get to grips with the very fast and technical circuit.

Svensson and Grabko were first up, sharing the track with four other karts during the free open testing session. As expected they proved to both be by far the quickest two on the circuit, so had to contend with traffic the entire session, only getting in small window of clean laps during the second half of the run. Still it was a good way for Dan to get familiar with the track for the first time. Best laps of 26.20s and 25.57s for Grabko and Svensson, respectively, in the reconnaissance session.

​All three team drivers took to the circuit for the second of the three passes, with Erkin joining in. They were instructed to take turns leading each other around track for the first half of the session, the idea being to see concrete differences in driving style and racing lines, and help Dan get comfortable and knowledgeable about the track as quickly as possible. It was a much quicker session for everyone, with Daniel topping the session times with a best 25.04 lap, Bour posting a 25.17s time, and Grabko improving dramatically on only his second time out with a 25.52s lap, despite an unfortunate spin early in the session.

Now it was Daniel Svensson's turn to take on the media circus while Dan and Erkin got back into their seats for the final session of the day. It was flat out orders on the team radio and they got right down to it, Bour topping the time sheets with an impressive 24.92s lap and Dan finding another 0.1s on his third go, banking in a further improved 25.47s time to round off the day.

Session Times

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