Quinn signs late British F3 deal

Quinn is currently A1GP Team Ireland's rookie driver and missed the pre-season F3 tests while he was on duty for his country in South Africa and Mexico. He will join the series for the test day at Oulton Park on Friday ahead of the first round this weekend.

"It's going to be tough because I've missed so much testing," he told autosport.com "I've literally only done a couple of days in an F3 car. But it will help that I know the tracks from my season in Formula BMW UK."

Despite his lack of experience with the car, he hopes to be able to challenge for honours in the National Class this season.

"I'm sure I'll get to grips with the car quite quickly and I'll be pushing to be at the front of the National Class from the beginning. The aim is to be in the hunt for the title at the end."

The deal also marks a return to Formula 3 for Team Loctite, which last ran regularly in the series in 2005. Team boss Trevor Powell decided to return to F3 after abandoning his Formula BMW Europe plans and believes the team and Niall can be competitive in the National Class.

"I've always said that once Niall got a chance to try an F3 car he'd be very quick, and his results in the few Asian F3 rounds he did have borne this out. We're always the underdogs so there's no change there, but we'll put everything into our season and enjoy the experience."