Photo: Antonin Vincent / DPPI
Formula Renault Eurocup star Yifei Ye and ADAC Formula 4 runner-up Liam Lawson will make their Formula 3 debuts in the season closing Asian F3 round at Sepang this weekend.
Ye driver finished third in his second Eurocup season with Josef Kaufmann Racing, winning twice, and will join Absolute Racing at Sepang. Lawson, the 2016-17 New Zealand Formula Ford champion, will race for Pinnacle Motorsport.
?I?m very excited to be joining Absolute Racing for this winter and can?t wait to contest Asian F3,” Ye said.
“After fighting against the best drivers in Europe for years I feel really confident for this new challenge. I will take my experience with me to our title chase. The team also has plenty of experience in single-seaters that I aim to benefit from.?
Ye’s team-mate Jaden Conwright is in a four-way fight for second in the standings, and could miss out on the title on win countback if he wins all three races. Championship leader Jake Hughes is absent due to GP3 commitments, and will be replaced by Euroformula Open champion Harrison Scott.
Absolute Racing has also comfirmed that Ye, who told Formula Scout he has?rejected?Formula 1 junior team offers, will enter the Asian F3 Winter Series with the team, alongside?Sri Lankan?Eshan Pieris, a winner in Formula 4 South East Asia.
?I?m really exited about racing in the final round of Asian F3 this weekend,” said Lawson, who tested an F3 car in Germany last month.
“It?s a great opportunity for me to learn about this car. Massive thanks to my sponsors for the weekend Seth Ascetic and to my team, Pinnacle Motorsport for this opportunity.?
Pinnacle ran Jordan Dempsey to the Chinese F4 title this year, and is returning to Asian F3 in a partnership with B-MAX Racing. It will field B-MAX’s usual Japanese F3 line-up of DRAGON and?Tairoku Yamaguchi alongside Lawson. B-MAX is joining up with European F3 team Motopark for campaigns in Super Formula and Japanese F3 next year.