Marussia Motors LLC, Russia's new supercar manufacturer, is promoting Russian driver Ivan Lukashevich into the GP3 Series this season with the Status Grand Prix team.

The 18-year-old Lukashevich is a long-standing member of Marussia Motors' driver development programme, which is dedicated to elevating Russian drivers to Formula One. The new GP3 Series is on the support-race programme at seven Formula One Grands Prix across Europe during 2010, making it the ideal championship for Lukashevich's next step in motorsport.

The driver development project, founded in 2005, is led by Marussia Motors president Nikolay Fomenko, a former international GT racer who has twice competed at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and is now the presenter of the Top Gear Russia television programme.

"I'm very happy that Ivan, a key part of our driver talent project, will be racing in one of the most prestigious series on the ladder to Formula One," said Fomenko. "I'm absolutely convinced that his hard-working approach and talent will see him succeed within the Status Grand Prix team and in the 2010 GP3 Series".

Lukashevich is the first driver to be announced as part of the three-car GP3 Series team at Status Grand Prix, which has switched to the new series after winning last year's A1GP World Cup of Motorsport with its A1 Team Ireland entry. He will make his on-track debut with the team at the first official two-day GP3 Series test at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in Le Castellet, France, starting this week on Thursday March 4.

"Status Grand Prix is delighted to welcome such a promising talent like Ivan into our team, and we're proud to have this association with Marussia Motors," said Teddy Yip, team principal of Status Grand Prix. "The experience and ability of our team is dedicated to giving Ivan the very best opportunity to develop and score strong results this year."

Lukashevich joined the Marussia Motors driver development programme when he was just 14 years old during a successful karting career that included winning the Russian Karting Cup. He graduated to car racing in 2006 in the Benelux Formula Ford series, and then competed in two seasons of the UK-based Formula Palmer Audi championship, scoring four podiums and two fastest laps. In 2008 he ended the year in the top 10 of the points despite only competing in just over half the events.