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2018 Macau GP: Ilott, Eriksson return to join Schumacher, Ticktum

GP3 Series race winner Callum Ilott and race-winning BMW DTM rookie Joel Eriksson are returning to Formula 3 for next month's Macau Grand Prix

Ferrari protege Ilott will join Carlin while Eriksson heads to Motopark, one year after the duo collided while battling for the lead.

They join a strong entry that includes newly crowned Formula 3 European champion Mick Schumacher and last year's Macau GP winner Dan Ticktum.

Ilott heads a four-strong Carlin line-up that also includes the team's European F3 race winners, Force India junior Jehan Daruvala and Renault F1 prospect Sacha Fenestraz.

"Macau is most definitely unfinished business for me," said Ilott, who won the qualification race last year. "It's one of those races that's now a personal target to win.

"I know Trevor Carlin and the team well from 2015 and they also came close to winning in the crazy race last November [with Ferdinand Habsburg].

"This could be the last year that the current generation of F3 cars compete at Macau so it would be special to get the result together with the team I started in F3 with - I'm sure we can be right in the mix.

"The F3 Dallara is a car that's been such a big part of my racing career - winning at Macau would be a nice way to sign off my time with that car."

Eriksson, who took runner-up in the European F3 rankings with Motopark in 2017, is joined by Red Bull junior Ticktum, F3 rookie star Juri Vips and Habsburg (pictured below), who makes the switch from his regular team Carlin.

"It's my favourite circuit in the world and the sensation of pushing the limits around there in a Formula 3 car, literally glancing the walls, is very, very special," said Eriksson.

"The car was great last year and I felt we should have won that race on pace, but that's the thing with Macau; you need that luck on your side as well.

"It will be a bit different this year, having not competed in F3 during the season, so I think it will be a massive challenge - still, I hope to be fighting for the win and it will be amazing to be back."

Schumacher is partnered by all four of his 2018 Euro F3 season race-winning team-mates at Prema Powerteam, which as usual carries backing from the Theodore Racing concern of Teddy Yip Jr, son of Macau GP godfather Teddy Yip Sr.

Schumacher will try to emulate father Michael and uncle Ralf, who both won Macau at their second attempts in 1990 and '95 respectively.

Ralf Aron, a Macau podium finisher in 2017, and Ferrari Driver Academy prospects Marcus Armstrong, Robert Shwartzman and Guan Yu Zhou will be in the other Prema cars.

Hitech GP supplies the other European F3 race winner from 2018 in the form of Enaam Ahmed, and its three-car line-up also includes GP3 racer Jake Hughes, who leads the F3 Asia standings in a parallel programme with the Silverstone-based team.

Japanese F3 titan TOM'S brings runaway champion Sho Tsuboi, who has won all but two of the JF3 races this season, alongside Ritomo Miyata, the only other driver to stand on the top step of the podium in Japan in 2018.

The entry is completed by Euro F3 stalwart Van Amersfoort Racing and Japanese F3 teams B-Max Racing Team, ThreeBond Racing and Toda Racing.

The 27-car entry is an improvement on the 22-car field mustered last year, the first time the FIA had assembled it from scratch without the input of the late former Macau GP coordinator Barry Bland.

A 28th machine is on the entry list as a sixth car for Motopark, but the team has indicated that it will not fill the seat.

2018 Macau GP entry list

Driver Team Car/engine
Dan Ticktum Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Joel Eriksson Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Juri Vips Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Ferdinand Habsburg Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Marino Sato Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Guan Yu Zhou Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
Mick Schumacher Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
Ralf Aron Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
Marcus Armstrong Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
Robert Shwartzman Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
TBA B-max Racing Team Dallara-Volkswagen
TBA B-max Racing Team Dallara-Volkswagen
Jehan Daruvala Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen
Callum Ilott Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen
Sacha Fenestraz Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen
Yoshiaki Katayama Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen
Toshiki Oyu Toda Racing Dallara-Toda
Sena Sakaguchi Toda Racing Dallara-Toda
Keyvan Andres Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Mercedes
Sophia Florsch Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Mercedes
Frederik Vesti Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Mercedes
Ukyo Sasahara ThreeBond Racing Dallara-Tomei
Charles Leong Hitech GP Dallara-Mercedes
Enaam Ahmed Hitech GP Dallara-Mercedes
Jake Hughes Hitech GP Dallara-Mercedes
Sho Tsuboi TOM'S Dallara-Toyota
Ritomo Miyata TOM'S Dallara-Toyota

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