European champion Lando Norris headlines lowest ever Macau F3 entry
Newly crowned Formula 3 European champion Lando Norris tops a depleted entry list for next month's Macau Grand Prix, in which just 22 cars will compete
The field is a record low for Macau since it switched to F3 rules in 1983 - in that first year, 25 cars were hastily scrambled together, but in the 33 years since then there have always been at least 28 entries.
This year's race is the first to be held without any input from long-time Macau GP coordinator Barry Bland - he stood down from organisation duties in late summer 2016, when much of the entry had already been put in place, and passed away in July this year.
Norris spearheads a five-car attack from Carlin, which bids to follow up its 2016 victory with Antonio Felix da Costa (pictured below).
The 17-year-old McLaren Formula 1 protege is joined by regular team-mates Jehan Daruvala and Ferdinand Habsburg, late-season Euro F3 newcomer Devlin DeFrancesco and Formula Renault Eurocup points leader Sacha Fenestraz, who made his F3 debut with Carlin at the Nurburgring in September.
Euro F3 runner-up Joel Eriksson leads the Motopark squad, and is joined by Formula 2 race winner Sergio Sette Camara, who finished on the Macau podium with Carlin last year.
Prema Powerteam, backed by the Theodore Racing initiative of Teddy Yip Jr - son of Macau GP godfather Teddy Yip Sr - takes its usual four Euro F3 drivers from 2017, including long-time title contenders Maximilian Gunther and Callum Ilott.
Hitech GP has pulled out of Macau, leaving Ralf Aron and Honda junior Tadasuke Makino to find alternative berths at Van Amersfoort Racing and Motopark respectively.
Further Motopark interest lies with Red Bull junior and McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist Dan Ticktum, who makes his second visit to Macau after being a race winner this season in Formula Renault Eurocup and starring in late-season GP3 outings.
Japanese F3 champion Mitsunori Takaboshi is not on the entry list, but the B-Max squad with which he has raced this season has assembled a potent line-up including Super Formula aces Yuhi Sekiguchi and Kenta Yamashita - the Japanese F3 title winners of 2011 and '16 respectively have both finished fourth in Macau in the past.
B-Max will also field a car for its team principal Ryuji Kumita - the 50-year old, who races under the pseudonym of 'Dragon', is this year's Japanese F3 National Class champion.
Entry list
B-Max Racing Team Dallara-Volkswagen
Kenta Yamashita, Yuhi Sekiguchi, 'Dragon'
Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen
Lando Norris, Jehan Daruvala, Ferdinand Habsburg, Sacha Fenestraz, Devlin DeFrancesco
Drago Corse Dallara-Tomei/ThreeBond
Alex Palou
Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen
Joel Eriksson, Tadasuke Makino, Marino Sato, Dan Ticktum, Sergio Sette Camara
Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes
Callum Ilott, Guan Yu Zhou, Maximilian Gunther, Mick Schumacher
TOM'S Dallara-Toyota
Sho Tsuboi, Ritomo Miyata
Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Mercedes
Ralf Aron, Pedro Piquet
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