Marino Sato to race in 2019 Formula European Masters with Motopark

It represents a third season at this level of the sport for the 19-year-old from Yokohama, who drove in the F3 European Championship with the Oschersleben team in 2017 and '18.

While Sato was a backmarker in 2017, he made a big step forward last season, taking a best result of fourth at Zandvoort among his seven points finishes.

Following Red Bull Juniors Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, Sato is the third driver to be confirmed for Motopark's planned four-car line-up of Spiess-powered Dallaras for FEM, which is the DTM-supporting continuation series for the old Euro F3 machinery.

Motopark boss Timo Rumpfkeil said: "Marino improved a lot during 2018, and he was really seriously quick. Following that, we made another huge step during winter testing."

"The Formula European Masters is providing drivers with plenty of seat time, plenty of races and arguably the best car to develop drivers, as you can see from the long list of successful drivers who after driving these cars went on for a successful career in Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship, the DTM or elsewhere."

Apart from the three Motopark drivers, there are still only two other contenders announced for FEM this year, despite the series offering 25 superlicence points for the champion, more than any of its rival championships.

Fortec Motorsport last week revealed that it will run American Cameron Das, who moves across from Euroformula Open and has been a race winner in the 2019 Toyota Racing Series.

Petru Florescu and Calan Williams, who also raced in TRS, are understood to be in serious contention to join Das in the British team's line-up.

Van Amersfoort Racing, meanwhile, will continue with Sophia Florsch, but has suffered a couple of blows in recent weeks.

The Dutch team was expected to run Lawson before he picked up Red Bull support and went to Motopark, and was also tipped to field Dane Frederik Vesti - who contested the 2018 Euro F3 finale and Macau Grand Prix with VAR - before he opted to contest the Formula Regional European series with Prema Powerteam.

Austrian team Neuhauser Racing has confirmed to Autosport that it wishes to run cars in FEM, a decade after it ran cars in the German F3 Cup.

Neuhauser carried current BMW Junior Mikkel Jensen to the title in the swansong 2014 season of German Formel Masters, and since then has concentrated on that category's successor, the German F4 Championship.