Kirchhofer to combine F3 with GP3

GP3 racer Marvin Kirchhofer is to contest the Formula 3 European Championship in 2015. The 20-year-old German will join Italian team EuroInternational to spearhead its attack, two years after he dominated the German F3 Cup. The deal is understood to have come with the support of EuroInternational engine supplier Mercedes.

Kirchhofer is expected to remain in GP3 for a second season with ART Grand Prix, and that this program will take priority when there are any date clashes. The first arises this month, with the two-day official F3 test at Valencia taking place on March 17-18 and the GP3 sessions at Estoril on March 18-19.

Team boss Antonio Ferrari said that he has "another driver in mind" to substitute for Kirchhofer when he is called away on GP3 duty.

The squad will also run Dane Nicolas Beer, who was a frontrunner in ADAC Formel Masters in 2013 but had a fragmented season last year, starting in BRDC Formula 4 in the UK and finishing in German F3 with EuroInternational.

"For us Marvin is very important for the growing of the team," Ferrari said. "We have a lot of things to learn, a lot of things to improve. I hope his talent will help us and help Nicolas with his learning curve."

Ferrari added that he hopes to run a third car in selected races for another driver.

RAO JOINS FORTEC LINEUP

British Formula 3 runner-up Matt Rao has become the second driver confirmed by Fortec Motorsport for this season's European F3 campaign. The 20-year-old Brit therefore continues his relationship with the Mercedes-powered Fortec team, with which he won five races in the UK last year.

F3 lineup so far

Prema Powerteam: Jake Dennis, Lance Stroll, Brandon Maisano, Felix Rosenqvist
Carlin: Gustavo Menezes, George Russell, Ryan Tveter, Antonio Giovinazzi, Callum Ilott, Tatiana Calderon, Sean Gelael (some rounds)
Van Amersfoort Racing: Alessio Lorandi, Charles Leclerc, Arjun Maini
Mucke Motorsport: Michele Beretta, Mikkel Jensen, Santino Ferrucci*
Team West-Tec: Fabian Schiller
Fortec Motorsport: Pietro Fittipaldi, Matt Rao
EuroInternational: Marvin Kirchhofer, Nicolas Beer
Double R Racing: Nicolas Pohler, Matt Solomon
T-Sport: TBA
Motopark: Sam MacLeod, Markus Pommer, Mahaveer Raghunathan, Sergio Sette Camara, Nabil Jeffri*
Signature: Alexander Albon, Dorian Boccolacci
Jo Zeller Racing: TBA
Ma-Con Motorsport: TBA
Artline Engineering: TBA
* Not officially announced

Originally on Autosport.com