Piquet Sports has announced a merger with the Minardi Team.

Piquet Sports is preparing to enter its third year in the GP2 series, which it has been involved with since the series' launch in 2005, and finished second in both the teams and drivers championship in 2006 with Nelson Piquet Jr.

The Minardi Team will join forces with Piquet Sports for the 2007 season, during which time it will continue its commitment to the Euroseries 3000 Championship.

The Piquet Sports structure, which is currently located in England, will be moving to a new factory in Veggiano, Italy, which has been built to specification to house the GP2 series and Euroseries 3000 staff and equipment.

Piquet Sports' Felipe Vargas will continue to manage the technical aspects of the new team, with the general management to be overseen by Minardi's Tancredi Pagiaro.

Felipe Vargas: The association with the Minardi Team is a great honour for Piquet Sports and brings together two very important names in the history of international motor sport. Working with them will only add to our challenge, as GP2 is a high quality and very demanding championship. The people and resources that we have put together in this association will make us a much stronger racing team, laying the foundations that safeguard our future and upon which we can grow.

Tancredi Pagiaro: This is an agreement which allows us to be present at the highest levels of motor racing beneath Formula One. The GP2 series has proved itself as a very strong championship and we are proud to participate with our new structure. We are delighted to be merging with Piquet Sports, one of the most competitive teams in the GP2 series. Moreover, bringing the Minardi team back to the top level of racing makes me very happy and gives me a great responsibility with such an important team at a national and international level. It's a difficult challenge, but we have the capability to win.