Carlin quits F3 Euro Series

Trevor Carlin confirmed that his team, which has struggled to replicate its British F3 title-winning form during two years in the Euro Series in 2008 and '09, would abandon the championship next season to focus on the new GP3 series.

"Something had to go and our weakest category was the Euro Series, so we won't be carrying on," said Carlin. "We're disappointed we couldn't get a grip on the Kumho tyres quickly enough. We were quick at times, but not when it counted.

"We're going to cut our losses and move on to different things. The Euro Series is a tough championship. I'm not expecting GP3 to be any easier, but we can't fight too many battles on too many fronts."

Carlin says joining GP3 in its first season means his team won't be playing catch up to the rest as it was in the F3 Euro Series.

"In Euro Series the other teams all started with the Kumhos years ago, so they had several seasons of experience before we even turned up. With GP3 we're going into a new championship at the very beginning, so we'll be starting on a level playing field with the other teams."

Carlin finished eighth in the Euro Series teams' championship this year, although Brendon Hartley did score the team's first series victory in the reverse-grid race at Brands Hatch.

Carlin also admitted that a recent buyout by Graham Chilton's Capsicum Motorsport organisation had rescued his team from serious financial difficulty.

"We probably could've struggled on, but Capsicum has come in and put us on a solid financial footing," Carlin added. "Their expertise is on running businesses, mine is on running race teams, so it's the perfect marriage."