The GP3 Series received a significant vote of confidence this week, when it announced that eight teams have signed on for a further three years of competition.
British teams Atech GP, Carlin and Marussia Manor Racing will again be joined by Jenzer Motorsport (Switzerland), Lotus GP (France), MW Arden (Australia), Status GP (Republic of Ireland) and Trident Racing (Italy) as they battle for the fourth GP3 Series title.
Joining the eight will be Spanish-based Finnish squad Koiranen Motorsport*, who are replacing the departed Ocean Racing Technology.
The GP3 Series will also be holding onto a regulation introduced last year that removed the necessity to run three drivers; however squads must now run at least two competitors.
Indeed two drivers have already been signed for the 2013 season, with British Formula Ford graduate Eric Lichtenstein signing for Carlin and European Formula Abarth competitor Samin Gómez Briceno joining Jenzer Motorsport.
It is thought newly crowned British Formula 3 champion Jack Harvey will also make the step up to GP3, while Formula 2 racer Alex Fontana is working on a budget to run a full season, possibly with Jenzer.
Another British Formula Ford graduate, Ryan Cullen, is due to test for Status GP in two post-season tests due this month at Estoril (October 6th-7th) and Jerez (October 24th-25th), although these sessions will utilise the original GP3/10 chassis.
Status GP also recently announced a performance alliance with GP2 squad iSport. The partnership will see Status GP’s leading GP3 runner win a chance to run at post-season test sessions with iSport. All of Status GP’s competitors will also be evaluated by iSport in their GP2 simulator and the beginning and end of the season.
Both iSport and Status GP will also share technical information and engineering assessments during race weekends where both championships are in operation.
Amidst this, the series continues its development of the new GP3/13 chassis and engine package that will see the category receive a huge boost of power, while also providing a far more refined and stable product.
Meanwhile, the calendar for the 2013 season has yet to be confirmed, although it is believed it will be a repeat of this year’s schedule.
* {note 1}
Koiranen Motorsport are a team well experienced in single-seater feeder categories. Initiated in 1997 by brothers Marko and Jari Koiranen, the squad have most recently been competing in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Alps with, amongst others, Gravity Management pilot Esteban Ocon and Red Bull junior team duo Daniil Kvyat and Stefan Wackerbauer.
Graduates of Koiranen Motorsport include Williams F1 reserve Valtteri Bottas, 2010 Eurocup champion Kevin Korjus and Formula 3 race winner Carlos Sainz Jr.
