Rossiter joins Fortec

Rossiter stays with the Fortec organisation with which he was a title challenger in last year's UK Formula Renault championship.

Team principal Richard Dutton said: "James is a phenomenal talent and I don't care if he's a rookie - we absolutely believe in him and are confident he can win races and the title at his first attempt.

"Some people are talking up Nelson Piquet Junior as the championship favourite, but I rate James' natural ability to be higher than Piquet's. He is that good and, having been top of our wish list for some time, we are very happy to have him driving for us in 2004."

Rossiter believes his graduation to F3 will be aided by additional winter testing with the Arden International and DAMS teams, respective winners of last year's FIA International Formula 3000 and Formula Renault V6 titles.

"In addition to Fortec, working with teams of Arden and DAMS' calibre has been hugely beneficial," he said. "I have improved a lot in many areas since the end of last season.

"I have seen the effort that Fortec has put into preparing for this season - it even missed November's races in Asia to concentrate on developing its cars and has switched to the Opel-Spiess engine that became very strong last year. I will also be working with an excellent race engineer in Phill Difazio with whom I've built an excellent working relationship."

James' first test of 2004 with Fortec will be at Brands Hatch on February 17 before heading to Zandvoort in Holland for more development work. The British Formula 3 Championship begins at Donington Park on April 3/4.