New team for European F3 in 2016

Stalwart Formula 3 team Performance Racing is to step up to the category's European championship in 2016.

The Anglo-Swedish Silverstone-based squad is running Malaysian Formula Renault ALPS graduate Akash Nandy in a development programme this year geared towards a 2016 entry.

Performance ran for several years in the British F3 championship before switching to the German F3 Cup , but both series have collapsed and will not run in 2015.

Nandy will drive Performance's existing Dallara-Volkswagen, with some modifications, this year before the team orders new Dallaras for what is planned to be a two-car effort. His outings will include tests, plus races in the Austrian-organized Remus F3 Pokal at Monza (where he took two wins last weekend), Red Bull Ring and Hockenheim, and in the UK-based MSV F3 Cup at Spa.

Team boss Bobby Issazadhe said: "European F3 is 100 percent the plan, and we have a pretty major program this year. I think we'll cover up to 16,000 kilometres if we're lucky. We'll be going round Europe testing at all these tracks we'll hit next year.

"Akash has tried both the old car and the new and he says the difference actually isn't that big. We plan to get our new chassis in the autumn and then test between October and December."

Macau Grand Prix winner Felix Rosenqvist, who drove for Performance in German F3 in 2010, is driver coach.

The team, which also ran in Formula Acceleration 1 last year, has no firm plans in place to continue this squad in Auto GP, which has merged with FA1 for 2015.

Originally on Autosport.com