Carlo comments on the move in his press release:

“I look forward to contribute to the success of this new team and working with Volkswagen. I had a fantastic season in Japan in 2008 and last autumn I had several offers from teams in Formula Nippon and the Japanese GT championship. Then Japanese motor racing was hit hard by the financial crisis, however, so I very much welcomed the offer from Kolles & Heinz Union and Volkswagen. As a driver, to be asked to help achieve the ambitions of a works supported team is very rewarding and of course it represents a great challenge.”

If the new F3 team can bring Carlo a competitive car he will be up there fighting for his third Formula 3 championship title.

Motopark Academy will also field a second car for a so-far unannounced driver.

Jules Bianchi, France
Jules Bianchi – the “old guy” of the team. 19-year-old Jules made his Formula 3 debut last year and ended up third in the Euro Series and won the F3 Masters at Zolder. His first single seater season was in 2007 when he won the French Formula Renault 2.0 championship. In 2006, during his final karting year he finished second in the World Cup in Formula A and was the WKS International champion in the ICC class.

Adrien Tambay, France
Patrick Tambay’s son Adrien Tambay will make his F3 debut this year. He’s been racing Formula BMW exclusively since he left karting and was fourth in his rookie season in 2007 in the German ADAC championship. This year he finished third in the European Formula BMW championship.

Esteban Gutierrez, Mexico
Esteban Gutierrez comes also from the Formula BMW domains where he became the 2008 European Formula BMW champion.

Valtteri Bottas, Finland
Bottas was a winning machine in 2008 where he raced in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and in the Northern European Cup. In the NEC he won 12 of 14 races and in the Eurocup he won another five races on his way to become champion in both championships. Valtteri Bottas win record to date is at an impressive 22 wins in 48 career races.

My money is on an ART driver as 2009 F3 Euro Series champion…

“I feel very happy to have come to an agreement with ART, to compete in this series,” he said. “I will put all my effort and dedication to obtain the best possible results with a lot of enthusiasm.”

The seventeen year old Mexican has a very impressive track record in his short career with a second place in the U.S. Formula BMW championship in 2007 followed by the European win in 2008. He started from pole position in the World Final, but ended third. He also made guest appearances in both International Formula Master (where he finished third at Imola) and in the German Formula 3 championship.

ART Grand Prix (formerly ASM Formule 3) has won the Formula 3 Euro Series in the last five years with Nicolas Hülkenberg (2008), Romain Grosjean (2007), Paul Di Resta (2006), Lewis Hamilton (2005) and Jamie Green (2004)

Brendon Hartley will stay with Carlin Motorsport in 2009 but will move to the Formula 3 Euro Series, where he already raced a few races in 2008 for both RC Motorsport and Carlin. The young New Zealander also raced for Carlin in the Macau F3 Grand Prix where he made an amazing final race from the back of the field to end up in third.

The second Red Bull driver to join Carlin is young Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo made a few F3 appearances for SG Formula during 2008 but his main challenge was in the Formula Renault 2.0 championships. He managed a total of 14 race wins in the 2 litre Formula Renault’s and became Western European champion and vice-European champion.

Brendon Hartley has not only carried out extensive winter testing for Carlin’s F3 cars he has also combined that duty with tests for the Red Bull Formula 1 team.

Team principal Trevor Carlin added, “Brendon is a very valued and well liked member of the team. He showed stunning pace in British F3 last year and towards the end of the season a new maturity and confidence emerged in his racing which I’m sure we’ll see again in F3 Euro Series in 2009.”

“In British F3 we’ll be joined by Daniel Ricciardo and I’m delighted that Red Bull have entrusted us with one of their most promising young drivers. Daniel has been fantastic so far in testing; he’s been quick, consistent and has gelled really well into the team. 2009 will be his first full year in F3, but I think we can expect some great performances from him.”

“I am very happy to stay with the Signature team for this new challenge. We have enjoyed a successful collaboration for some time now and I am delighted to be able to continue it into the future. The world of sportscar racing is completely new to me though, so I will have a lot to learn. However, I’m fortunate to have a great time behind me and also a great team mate in Pierre Ragues.”

Adrien Tambay‘s first season out of karts came in 2007 when he started racing in the German Formula BMW Series (Formula BMW ADAC). He managed to score two wins in his debut season and after another three wins this year he moves up to F3.

Cesar Ramos says: “I’m really excited to join John Booth’s Manor Motorsport. It’s an highly-competitive and professional operation, and an ideal destination in order to experience a positive debut in the Formula 3 Euro Series. I also have to thank all the other teams that got interested in me for the 2009 season, offering a chance to test for them. The two years I spent in Italy have been incredible, but it’s time to change: I’ll be probably relocating close to the team’s headquarters.”

“After the Formula Renault season finished, Mücke offered me a test at Lausitz and it went really, really well, and they said they’d be interested in running me next season,” he said.

Alexander Sims ran for Manor Competition in the UK Formula Renault championship this season and finished second behind Adam Christodoulou. He also made an appearance in the Formula BMW race at Macau and set the fastest lap eventhough it was his debut race in the BMW single seater.