Pons Racing and Tech 1 Racing have announced their departure from Formula V8 3.5 ahead of the new season, joining Carlin on the sidelines.
Pons had already confirmed Beitske Visser and Aleksander Bosak for the 2016 season but have withdrawn to concentrate on its Moto2 efforts, with Visser switching over to Strakka Racing for this week’s pre-season tests at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Tech 1 Racing, who have won the Teams’ Championship on four occasions during it’s time in Formula Renault 3.5 and took Alvaro Parente to the 2007 Drivers’ title, have also decided to exit the championship, with its entry being taken over by the Durango Racing Team, with former Auto GP gentleman driver Giuseppe Cipriani testing in Barcelona this week for the Italian outfit.
Carlin had already revealed its intentions to miss the 2016 season to concentrate on its GP2 Series team, while the future of Comtec Racing is also up in the air as they remain absent from any entry list in 2016 and having only competed in the one event at the Red Bull Ring during the 2015 season.
Should Comtec fail to race in 2016, the entry levels could be down to around eighteen cars, with drives still to be determined at Strakka Racing, Durango, RP Motorsport and Teo Martin Motorsport.
