Honda places Japanese F3 champion protege Matsushita at ART in GP2
Honda-supported Japanese Formula 3 champion Nobuharu Matsushita will partner McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne at ART in GP2 this season
Matsushita, who is backed by McLaren's new Formula 1 engine supplier, tested for ART in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year, completing 74 laps across two half-day sessions.
"I would like to thank ART for giving me the opportunity to race in GP2," said the 21-year-old.
"This is a big challenge but I am determined to do my best as GP2 is the best way to race in F1, which is my dream.
"I would like to express my thankfulness to Honda, who support my challenge."
As part of the launch of its 2015 motorsport programme, Honda explained in a statement that it is working with McLaren to get more Japanese drivers on the road to Formula 1.
"Honda's participation in the GP2 series is a part of the company's project for turning out more Japanese F1 drivers," it said.
"Through collaboration with McLaren, Honda will create more opportunities to encourage Japanese drivers to succeed on a global scale."
Matsushita partners 2014 runner-up and '15 pre-season favourite Vandoorne at ART, and the French squad has been pleased with how the Japanese racer has adapted to his new surroundings.
ART team manager Sebastien Philippe said: "Nobuharu will have many new things to discover and the start of the season will be marked by a learning phase for him.
"But ART has full confidence in his qualities and in the team's experience to help him adapt very quickly to the discipline.
"He has no European culture, but he quickly integrated himself into the team at the Abu Dhabi tests."
Matsushita's deal continues ART's association with Honda-backed drivers, following Takuya Izawa's place in its 2014 line-up.
It also tested 2007 Macau Grand Prix runner-up Koudai Tsukakoshi in Abu Dhabi last year, and Matsushita was the faster of the two during that week.
Izawa will return to full-time racing in Japan in 2015, competing for Honda in Super Formula and Super GT.
Honda has also signed 2013 champion Fabio Leimer to race in Super Formula, while ex-F1 racer Narain Karthikeyan has moved across from Toyota in the Japanese single-seater series.
Trident also completed its GP2 driver line-up this week, with Rene Binder - who tested for the team at the end of last year - moving from Arden to partner Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello.
2015 GP2 FIELD SO FAR
DAMS
Pierre Gasly, Alex Lynn
Carlin
Marco Sorensen, Julian Leal
ART
Stoffel Vandoorne, Nobuharu Matsushita
Racing Engineering
Jordan King, tba
Trident
Raffaele Marciello, Rene Binder
Campos
Arthur Pic, Rio Haryanto
Arden International
Norman Nato, tba
Yet to announce drivers: Russian Time, MP, Rapax, Status, Hilmer, Lazarus
Jordan King in GP2 graduation with Racing Engineering
Arden signs Andre Negrao to complete its 2015 GP2 driver line-up
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