Festival winner Davidson signs for Carlin
Formula Ford Festival winner Anthony Davidson has signed for Carlin Motorsport to contest next year's British F3 Championship
He will partner pre-season favourite Takuma Sato, but doesn't believe the fact he's a rookie driver will hinder his title chances.
"I want to have a year like Jenson Button did in 1999," he said. "I'm on top of a massive wave and want to stay there. I'm seen as a man of the moment and I want to come in and impress the right people."
Button, who finished third in his rookie season in '99, used F3 as a direct springboard to the BMW Williams F1 team. Luciano Burti and Tomas Scheckter both graduated to test roles with Jaguar's F1 squad after finishing second in the series with Stewart Racing - now called the Jaguar Junior Team.
Davidson turned down a chance to test with the Jaguar squad: "We were going to the Jaguar Junior test, but we ran out of time and didn't want to end up in the situation of me not having a drive. So I followed my instinct."
The 21-year-old Englishman won the seat at Carlin after competition from Formula Palmer Audi star Derek Hayes. The latter will now contest the Korean Grand Prix later this month for Manor Motorsport alongside Andy Priaulx, as Manor's Macau GP driver Lei Kit Meng will not race in Korea.
Hayes is now favourite for a berth at Manor, which won the British title with Antonio Pizzonia this year. He should fill the void created by Manor's Sauber-bound Formula Renault champion Kimi Raikkonen.
For full Anthony Davidson Q&A, click HERE.
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