LUCIANO BACHETA has set his sights on a successful season after signing up to race in AutoGP for 2013.
The 22-year-old will drive for the Zele Racing team in the worldwide series, which kicks off in Italy this weekend.
Brentwood's Bacheta won the Formula Two Championship last season, and had set his sights on earning a drive in GP2, but eventually signed up for AutoGP – a championship previously won by current Formula 1 stars Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean.
"I'm finally sorted," he said. "It's been a pretty hectic winter, going from one thing to another, but it's good to get it sorted at this late stage.
"I was always aiming for GP2 and we got ridiculously close, but just didn't have the full commitment from the sponsors.
"AutoGP is still good, it's a much more powerful car than I've driven, I'll learn a lot and it'll be good preparation."
Bacheta is straight into racing when he heads to the Monza track this weekend for the first of eight races, which includes events at Silverstone and Donington Park.
And although it will be his first run in his new wheels, he is hoping to make an instant impression.
He added: "I'm going to be learning a lot but I know Monza, I've done well there and I'll never turn up at a track without thinking we'll be able to go for a result.
"With GP2 it's got a really specific tyre which takes a bit of time to learn, but with AutoGP it's a more conventional tyre so I should be able to go in and go straight for a podium.
"It's had some good drivers and you learn a lot from it. The car is really quick, it's got a lot of grip and they've updated the car this year so it's about two seconds quicker than it was before.
"I've got the engineer who worked with Romain Grosjean [when he won the title in 2010] so that's really good."
His Austria-based Zele team have not been regular winners in the series over recent years, but Bacheta is hoping to be part of a successful and consistent side.
He said: "They've shown really good signs of speed but not over the whole season, but with a consistent driving setup I'm sure we can do well.
"It's more about the engineering team and mine are proven to be good in AutoGP so we should be ok."
With the Formula 1 season having kicked off on Sunday in Melbourne, the issue of pay drivers has been a big one, with Max Chilton – who Bacheta beat in the T Cars tournament seven years ago – among them.
And Bacheta admits it is a tricky issue for young drivers looking to make their way in the top flight of motorsport.
"You've got to be quick as well and I think that's where it gets a little bit confusing," he added.
"You do need to have a lot of speed and a lot of backing. It is frustrating for me because I have shown signs of a lot of speed and even when I tested Formula 1 it went pretty well and I'd like to think that had it been five or ten years ago something would have come of it, but now unless you come to the table with millions, it's very hard to get a drive.
"Most of our effort is put into getting sponsorship.
"Eventually the cream will always rise to the top, but there are definitely people shortcutting the system."
