Josef Newgarden has been signed by Carlin for the inaugural GP3 season. The Formula Ford UK vice champion will partner Dean Smith in the British team.

19 year-old Newgarden is fast becoming a driver to watch for the future, having won 10 races in Formula Ford UK last year, as well as taking four pole positions and an impressive 16 podiums. Newgarden also competed in three Formula Palmer Audi races in 2009, winning two.

Carlin are the current British F3 champions and one of only ten teams granted an entry into the first season of GP3, which will support the European F1 events. At the first ever GP3 test at Paul Ricard last month, Carlin cars finished third and fourth quickest.

Newgarden joined Carlin for the second official test at Paul Ricard and was immediately on the pace. The young American set the sixth fastest time during the mini qualifying session which was designed to determine the race numbers that the teams will carry on their cars for the 2010 season.

Newgarden said, "I'm very excited about the season ahead. It's great to be involved in the first season of GP3, especially with Carlin which has such an incredible history of results. I have a good opportunity this year and I want to make the most of it and do the best job possible for myself and the team.

"GP3 is a fantastic championship; following in the footsteps of GP2 - it's very well organised and supporting the European F1 races means it's highly visible as well. If you're going to do a good job there's no better arena to do it in. I can't wait to get to Barcelona for the first race."

Carlin Racing Director Trevor Carlin added, "We watched Josef's progress last year and he's already attracted a lot of interest in the industry. I'm delighted that he's chosen Carlin as the team with which to further his career and I believe that GP3 is a great environment for him to hone his skills. GP3 is a big step up for Josef, but he's already proven his ability to adapt to the GP3 car and I'm confident he will be challenging for podiums this season."