Jann Mardenborough, from Ely in Cardiff,  who graduated from playing racing games on his Play Station to win the Nissan PS2 GT Academy, and then competed in several rounds of the 2011 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship as part of his move to real racing, has signed to drive in European F3 with the Carlin Motorsport team. Trevor Carlin who also has Welsh connections, is one of the top F3 team managers with a string of British F3 titles to his name. (Andy Meyrick raced with Carlin in 2008, taking several National class wins) . However the European series will be a new departure for both Mardenborough & Carlin, and the aim is to give Jann experience of driving cars with slicks and wings before moving on to run in the LM2 class at Le Mans.

 It will be the first time a Welsh racer has raced in F3 since Hywel Lloyd moved up to the International Class in the Cooper Tyres British F3 International Championship in 2009, 2010 & 2011. Hywel had a brief winning return to F3 in the National Class late last year.