Ultimate Motorsport sign Clucas

The 23-year-old dominated the Australian Formula Three championship last year after making a handful of appearances in the British F3 National class in 2005.

Clucas told autosport.com: "I've always wanted to race in British F3 and I've never had a proper crack at it, so it's good that we've been able to put a deal together.

"It's hard to say what our targets should be, because we will be developing the car the whole time, but the car is strong."

The British driver has experienced several F3 cars in recent years, and he has been impressed by the French Mygale chassis, which will challenge the might of Dallara this year.

"It's very different from the Dallara, it's certainly not just a copy," he said. "It's really good at high speed, and I think we can work on the low speed performance as well."

Clucas believes that he is now a much stronger driver than he was in 2005, when he scored a handful of victories in the National Class.

"Going to Australia was good because I got to do a full season of F3 on a limited budget, and I was able to improve as a driver," he said.

"It also allowed me the opportunity to drive a V8 Supercar, and I don't want to close the door on going back to do more of that in the future."

Clucas will join Esteban Guerrieri at the team, and the pair will be the first drivers to race the new Mygale chassis when the season starts.

Team boss Barry Walsh said: "We are delighted to confirm Ben will join us alongside Esteban for 2007. We believe the two of them will make a formidable driver pairing."

Clucas has already tested for the team over the winter, and Walsh feels that he is already settling into the outfit well.

"Ben is already very much part of the team," he said. "He has already tested the car twice, and he was present at our launch. We will now aim to give both our drivers as much track time as possible before the season starts."