What started out as a low key story earlier this week has grown into a monster, ahead of the team car launch on the 5th of February. It all started with the Spanish press stating that Adrian Valles has signed for a test driver for 2007.
Valles started off in karts and showed a great deal of initial promise. A swap to cars in 2001 did not start well, but in 2005 with Pons Racing he finished runner up to Robert Kubica in the Renault World Series. In 2006 he raced with Campos Racing in the GP2 series, scoring 9 points and finishing 16th overall.
Adrian accepted an invitation to test with the fledgling Spyker F1 team at Silverstone last September, and the word is that his efforts impressed the decision makers in the team.
Unfortunately, there are several other media outlets that have taken a more sceptical view on the possible signing.
The most common is that the drive is motivated by money and that it does not reflect well on a team that apparently is working hard to regain its credibility. The arguement that tail end grid teams need to have pay drivers doesn't seem to wash with some either, with the collective view being that this signing is a clear indication that the team do not have enough funds.
On a brighter note, team sponsor F1Racing.net has tried to get confirmation on the rumours. "We can not confirm any of these rumours," a team spokesperson has been quoted as saying to the popular F1 news site. "On Monday, February 5th, we will present our test drivers at the team launch at Silverstone."
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