The entry list for the 2017?Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race has been released, with a record low number of entries.
Only 22 cars have registered for the 64th running of the event, which is the lowest number since the race moved to Formula 3 rules in 1983.
The list is headed by 2017 European F3 champion Lando Norris, who finished 11th on his Macau debut last year despite starting from 27th thanks to a crash in the qualifying race.
The Mclaren young driver will continue his title-winning partnership with Carlin, which was victorious in the Grand Prix last year with Formula E driver Antonio Felix da Costa.
European F3 regulars Jehan Daruvala and Ferdinand Habsburg will be driving alongside him, as well as long-time Carlin man Devlin DeFrancesco, and Formula Renault Eurocup champion-elect Sacha Fenestraz.
Norris’s championship rivals Maximilian Gunther and newly announced Ferrari Driver Academy member Callum Ilott will also be returning to Macau with Prema Powerteam, which will be running under the Theodore Racing name of Teddy Yip Jr once again. Guan Yu Zhou and Mick Schumacher will continue to drive the other two Prema cars, with Schumacher making his Macau debut, 27 years on from his father’s victory.
Joel Eriksson, the closest of Norris’s rivals, will head Motopark’s effort for a first ever Macau GP victory.
He will be joined by 2016 GP podium finisher and FIA Formula 2 race-winner Sergio Sette Camara, Japanese duo Tadasuke Makino and Marino Sato, and Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum.
Van Amersfoort Racing is the last European F3 team to enter, with Ralf Aron moving across from the absent Hitech GP to partner Pedro Piquet.
B-Max Racing, Drago Corse and TOM’S represent the Japanese F3 contingent, with B-Max fielding the strongest line-up of Yuhi Sekiguchi, Kenta Yamashita, and team boss Ryuji Kumita, who races under the name of ‘Dragon’.
Sekiguchi and Yamashita are both former Japanese F3 champions, and Sekiguchi is one of the top drivers in Super Formula.
TOM’S will run an identical line-up to in Japan,? with 2017 vice-champion Sho Tsuboi partnered by Ritomo Miyata.
Alex Palou, who made his F2 debut for Campos Racing two weeks ago at Jerez, will continue his race-winning partnership with Drago Corse, and will be the only runner of a ThreeBond engine at the Grand Prix.
64th Macau Grand Prix entry list
B-Max Racing (Dallara-Volkswagen)
‘Dragon’ – 2017 Japanese F3 National Class champion
Yuhi Sekiguchi – 2011 Japanese F3 champion, 4th in 2011 Macau GP
Kenta Yamashita – 2016 Japanese F3 champion, 4th in 2016 Macau GP
Carlin (Dallara-Volkswagen)
Jehan Daruvala – 6th in 2017 FIA European F3
Devlin DeFrancesco – currently 5th in 2017 Euroformula Open
Sacha Fenestraz – 20th in 2017 FIA European F3
Ferdinand Habsburg – 7th in 2017 FIA European F3, DNF in 2016 Macau GP
Lando Norris – 2017 FIA European F3 champion, 11th in 2016 Macau GP
Drago Corse (Dallara/Tomei-ThreeBond)
Alex Palou – 3rd in 2017 Japanese F3
Motopark (Dallara-Volkswagen)
Sergio Sette Camara – 11th in 2016 FIA European F3, 3rd in 2016 Macau GP
Joel Eriksson – 2nd in 2017 FIA European F3, DNF in 2016 Macau GP
Tadasuke Makino – 15th in 2017 FIA European F3, 14th in 2016 Macau GP
Marino Sato – 19th in 2017 FIA European F3
Dan Ticktum – 4th in 2016 BRDC British F3 Autumn Trophy, DNF in 2016 Macau GP
Prema Powerteam (Dallara-Mercedes)
Maximilian Gunther – 2016 FIA European F3 vice-champion, DNF in 2016 Macau GP
Callum Ilott – 4th in 2017 FIA European F3, 5th in 2016 Macau GP
Mick Schumacher – 12th in 2017 FIA European F3
Guan Yu Zhou – 8th in 2017 FIA European F3, 15th in 2016 Macau GP
TOM’S (Dallara-Toyota)
Ritomo Miyata – 4th in 2017 Japanese F3
Sho Tsuboi – 2017 Japanese F3 vice-champion, 16th in 2016 Macau GP
Van Amersfoort Racing (Dallara-Mercedes)
Ralf Aron – 7th in 2016 FIA European F3
Pedro Piquet – 14th in 2017 FIA European F3, 9th in 2016 Macau GP