Volkswagen to return to F3 this year

The manufacturer enjoyed a lot of success in the German F3 championship between 1979 and 1991, where it won seven titles with drivers such as Michael Schumacher and Tom Kristensen.

The engine will make its race debut at the Nurburgring round of the F3 Euro Series at the beginning of September.

Volkswagen motorsport director Kris Nissen said: "We want to demonstrate that his Volkswagen engine is already performing at a high-level during its early stages of development, and it is considered to be a potential race winning power plant for the future.

"Following the good test results obtained over the past few months, the race debut represents the first opportunity to see exactly where we stand in comparison with the competition."

Mercedes currently supplies engines to all but one of the teams in the F3 Euro Series. AM Holzer Rennsport, who are currently using an Opel engine, are one of the teams that will use the Volkswagen engine this year.

This week's Autosport magazine reports that JB Motorsport could join the F3 Euro Series with the new engine, while World Series by Renault team RC Motorsport will join the series at the Nurburgring.