Jaguar Racing lines up British title attack

Jaguar has taken over the ultra-successful Stewart Racing F3 team which has won six British titles in the last decade.

"The [Stewart] Formula Three team has an unsurpassed record of success in the last 12 years, not just in terms of winning races and championships but also in developing drivers," said Jaguar boss Bobby Rahal. "Our own F1 team is a prime example, with both race driver Luciano Burti and development driver Tomas Scheckter having previously competed in F3. In Andre and James, we believe that we have two more drivers who are capable not only of achieving their goals, but helping us to reach ours."

While Australian Courtney, who is managed by former BTCC boss Alan Gow, is well known to the British racing scene after two seasons in Formula Ford, Lotterer is a newcomer to the UK. The 19-year-old finished fourth in last year's German F3 series, dropping out of the title chase after a disastrous end to his season with the Bert Schafer Racing team.

"I've won championships in the past, but this one is going to be harder," said Courtney. "People say Formula Ford is hard but this is going to be completely different. But I think we can do it [win the championship], the team's certainly good enough. I think it's going to be really hard this year because there's going to be lots of guys around who will be capable of winning. There are 26 rounds as well so you are going to have to be consistent, but on the other hand you can't just sit back. It's going to be hard to know when to go and when not to.

"I'll be going for the championship because the way things are you can't afford to have a bad year otherwise people forget about you. People fall out of favour and it can all change so quickly."

Lotterer, meanwhile, ousted former McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Gary Paffett from the second seat. Paffett's manager Martin Hines was disappointed with the decision, and told Autosport: "We were told we were looking very good from a very high level within Jaguar. That's given the others [drivers] a four- or five-week start on looking for other seats."

Last year's Scholarship Class winner Paffett's best opportunity appears to be with the new Duma Racing team, which has been set-up by renowned F3 engineer Pete Berry.