Sam Abay is to join Formula BMW UK Championship title winner Marcus Ericsson in stepping up to the British F3 International Series for 2008 after confirmation that the young Australian will race for Carlin next season.

The 20-year-old, who finished eighth in the FBMW standings driving for Team Loctite, has already completed a number of tests with the team and impressed enough to secure himself a race seat with the multiple champions – where he joins Oliver Turvey, Brendon Hartley and Jaime Alguersuari in a cosmopolitan looking line-up.

"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team and I believe that I can learn a lot from racing for them next year,” he said. “I hope I can contribute to the enormous success that Carlin has already had ".

Team principal Trevor Carlin admitted he was delighted to have another driver signed to his team so early in the off-season and said he was confident that Abay will impress in his first season of F3 competition after a solid showing during testing so far.

"Sam makes a big leap from Formula BMW to F3, but his progress in testing so far has been very impressive,” he said. “He has continued to listen to the advice of the engineer and take on board any suggestions. He also has a great understanding of the mechanics and set-up of the car and in that respect he's a very intelligent driver.

"It's fantastic that we have been able to announce four of our drivers so early on, this will give us a great opportunity to test throughout the winter and gel as a team, putting us in great shape for the 2008 season."