Leading Swiss football club FC Basel 1893 have secured their race team for the inaugural season of Superleague Formula - and also become the first club to recruit their driver.

German Formula 3 team GU Racing will oversee the Swiss club's Superleague Formula squad with young German driver Max Wissel behind the wheel.

"We as a raceteam are very proud to be part of Superleague Formula," said GU Racing owner Gunther Unterreitmeier.

"It is a great opportunity to build a new fan base for motorsport fans and football fans. I really felt the passion of the FC Basel fans in their stadium last Friday and I think we will have huge support for the FC Basel raceteam."

Wissel currently competes for GU Racing in Formula Renault 2.0 in the Northern European Championship. GU Racing have a busy year ahead - competing in the German F3 ATS Cup, Formula Renault, Formula BMW and a new German series, Formula ADAC Masters.

"I am very happy that I have the chance to drive one of these spectacular cars," driver Max Wissel said (pictured above with FC Basel President, Gigi Oeri).

"The rules with the reverse grid will provide some spectacular races. I will do my best to represent my football club and provide the FC Basel fans with something to cheer for."

Unterreitmeier and Wissel visited FC Basel last Friday when the club defeated FC Zurich 4-0 at Sankt-Jakob-Park.

"We are thrilled to welcome Max and Gunther to the FC Basel team," Club President, Gigi Oeri said.

"Our fans are really excited about Superleague Formula and we can't wait to see Max behind the wheel. While the first round in the UK is going to be great, I am sure all our fans at FC Basel will be very excited about crossing the border into Germany for round two at the Nurburgring."