Marcus Ericsson will race in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship in 2009 after signing a lucrative deal with the title winning Petronas Tom's Team.

The Swede, who made his debut in the British Formula 3 Championship this season after winning the 2007 Formula BMW UK Championship, follows in the footsteps of Oliver Jarvis, who made the decision to race in Japan in 2007.

Ericsson enjoyed an impressive maiden season in British Formula 3, the 18-year-old graduating with Fortec Motorsport to manage five podiums on the way to fifth in the overall standings.

Nonetheless, despite being expected to sign with Carlin Motorsport for 2009, Ericsson will instead head east to front Tom's defence of the Japanese F3 Championship, which they dominated this year with the combination of Carlo Van Dam and Macau winner Kaisuke Kunimoto.

“I am delighted to join PETRONAS Team Tom's, says the Swedish F3 star. It's one of the absolute best F3 teams on the planet and will provide a great opportunity for success in both the Japanese F3 Championship and the Macau F3 GP. It's going to be both exciting and developing to live outside Europe for the first time in my career”.

“We are very pleased to have Marcus on board as one of PETRONAS Team Toms family members and look forward a successful 2009 season with him,” added team manager Koumi-san. “We would like him to enjoy both driving our F3 car and also the completely different culture here to broaden his experience in various aspects.”