Ocelot team principle Rai Miyamoto confirmed today the team has extended Karl Beckenbauer's contract by 1 year, meaning the German who recently moved to the team for the 2016 season will now partner current team mate Puccio Giodano for an extra year. However rumors in the Japanese paddock have began circling in terms of what the home outfit will look to do for the 2018 season especially with Australian, Hunter Ryan waiting in the wings in the team's driver academy.
Although another rumor has suggested the team favor Puccio Giodano as their long term option to lead them forward in the future especially with Beckenbauer turning 30 this year. However the rumors did not stop there as one went on to say the reason for the Giodano signing was to convince Ferrari to supply the team for 2017 should they move on from Downton. Rai Miyamoto was approached about this particular rumor and had the following to say. ''First of all, I'd like to say we are extremely proud to have resigned Karl to the team for the 2017 season and that this does not mean we are looking to move on from him as we will value our assets and the driver market carefully next year but for now don't count the guy out. As for Hunter, we were extremely pleased to sign him to the academy and feel like he is someone we could potentially see driving for the team but it's still too early, the kid is young and we don't want to put so much pressure on him. Finally I'd like to address the engine rumor, we are currently very pleased with the engine supplied by Downton and that there are no issues. We are evaluating all of our options before making a move and with that in mind, the media will continue to name drop as many manufacturers as possible whether it's Ferrari, Honda, Porsche or even Chevrolet.'' Karl Beckenbauer was also approached after being signed to a new 1 year deal. ''I'm very pleased to remain with the team and to partner Puccio next year, I think already we have a pretty strong dynamic together. I'm grateful with what the team had achieved so far and granted we didn't do our best in China after a great qualifying result, I hope to be able to better at our home race here in Japan.''
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