Gustavo Menezes has switched from Van Amersfoort Racing to Carlin for his sophomore season in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2015.
The twenty-year-old from California will be looking to build on a positive rookie season in 2014 when he took two podium finishes and a pole position at Spa-Francorchamps on his way to eleventh place in the championship standings.
Menezes had tested a GP3 Series car with Carlin in Abu Dhabi recently, but made the decision to remain in European Formula 3 for another year, and he is looking forward to getting back on track in 2015 with his new team.
“Carlin is a fantastic team who excel in every series they compete in,” said Menezes. “The list of drivers they have run reads like the who’s who of motor racing and I look forward to working with the guys and doing everything I can to get some good results next season.
“Like all young American drivers I would love to be involved in F1, DTM, IndyCar or Sports cars – any of them would be a dream come true. That said, the only way I am going to get there is to win races. I have a great team in Carlin and I will be pushing as hard as I can to do that.”
Team Principal Trevor Carlin welcomed the American to the team, and has been impressed by Menezes during their short time working together testing in both GP3 and F3 machinery.
“Gustavo is an extremely welcome addition to our team,” insisted Carlin. “We watched him with interest last year and he clearly has a lot of potential.
“As well as showing good pace, it’s important to have the right relationship between team and driver and Gustavo has settled in very quickly at Carlin. He did a great job testing with our GP3 team last week and has already impressed in his first F3 test with us this week at Silverstone.
“He will be a great asset to the F3 team next year and we look forward to many strong results together.”