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Roy Nissany at the Winter Cup in Lonato, racing for Morsicani Racing. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Roy Nissany will become the official test driver for the Williams Group, making him Israel’s very first Formula One driver, announced the motor racing team and constructor ROKiT Williams Racing on Wednesday.
Nissany was joined at a press conference on Wednesday morning at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation by the group’s president, Claire Williams, and Sylvan Adams, who has supported Nissany’s development in motor racing and serves as president of Nissany’s management group.
The 25-year-old began his journey in motor racing at age 14 and comes to Formula One following two successful seasons in Formula V8 3.5, where he secured 13 podium finishes and reached pole position seven times.
Nissany’s achievements include two consecutive victories at the Silverstone track in the United Kingdom, plus wins at Italy’s Monza track, France’s Paul Ricard circuit and Jerez in Spain. He competed in the Formula Two championship in 2018, but missed last season due to an injury.
In 2014, he completed his first test in a Formula One car with the Swiss team Sauber Motorsport.
In early December, Nissany was asked by Williams to participate in two days of testing in Abu Dhabi, after which the group decided to sign the Israeli as the team’s third driver. As such, Nissany will train with the team and drive on Fridays during Grand Prix practice at Formula One weekends, waiting for the opportunity to compete behind the wheel of one of two championship cars.
He joins a distinguished list of past drivers for the UK-based Williams team, which includes Formula One legends such as Brazilians Ayrton Senna and Nelson Pique, Keke Rosberg of Finland, Britain’s Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button, Frenchman Alain Prost and Canada’s Jacques Villeneuve.