German F3 champion Marvin Kirchhofer secures GP3 seat with ART

Kirchhofer had originally been lined up to race for Russian Time's new GP3 programme this year, before the death of team founder Igor Mazepa and the subsequent unravelling of the squad's deal with Motopark, which had run Kirchhofer in F3.

"I'm looking forward to this new challenge which is the biggest of my career so far," said the 19-year-old.

"For me, ART Grand Prix is one of the best teams in the field as their records surely testify.

"It will be exciting to grow with this team as I know they will give me the best support and that's one of the keys to a good adaptation."

ART took Esteban Gutierrez and Valtteri Bottas to the first two GP3 titles, and while Daniel Abt and Facu Regalia fell short of continuing that drivers' championship run, Frederic Vasseur's outfit has still claimed every GP3 teams' crown in the series' four-year history.

"It's too early to set myself a target," Kirchhofer added.

"My first test in Abu Dhabi went well: the speed was there and I was consistent, but we have to wait for the winter tests to know where we are and what to aim for in my first season in the series."

Kirchhofer joins GP3 returnees Alex Fontana and Dino Zamparelli in the ART line-up.

"Marvin is a fast and intelligent driver that harmoniously complements the trio of ART Grand Prix GP3 drivers," said Vasseur.

"His record is already very rich and the ambition of ART Grand Prix is to accompany him throughout this first season so that all his talent will shine through as effectively in GP3 as it did in previous formulas where he was champion the last two years."

2014 GP3 line-up so far:

ART Grand Prix     	Alex Fontana/Dino Zamparelli/Marvin Kirchhofer
Arden              	R Visoiu/P Niederhauser/J Mardenborough
Koiranen GP        	Jimmy Eriksson/tba/tba
Carlin             	Alex Lynn/Emil Bernstorff/tba
Marussia Manor Racing   tba/tba/tba
Russian Time       	tba/tba/tba
Jenzer Motorsport  	tba/tba/tba
Trident            	Victor Carbone/Roman de Beer/tba
Status Grand Prix  	Nick Yelloly/tba/tba