British racing star of the future Oliver Oakes is to contest the GP3 Series this season.

Oakes, aged 22 from Norfolk, has been targeted by several teams in the new series, which supports European rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship.

Accelerate Driver Development, which manages Oakes and three other young stars, is negotiating with teams on Oakes’s behalf.

Oakes joined the ADD stable in 2009 after a part-season in the British Formula 3 Championship. The World Karting Champion of 2005, Oakes went on to win races in Formula BMW and became a front-runner in Formula Renault. He also took a sensational pole position in an abbreviated F3 campaign in 2008.

After a break from the cockpit, Oakes returned to the wheel of an F3 car this winter, setting very quick testing times with former championship-winning team Hitech Racing.

Accelerate Driver Development Managing Director Graeme Glew said: “It’s a well-known fact in motorsport that Oliver Oakes is one of Britain’s fastest up-and-coming young drivers. He has had a lot of bad luck over the past couple of seasons, but his recent F3 test at Rockingham demonstrated that he can jump into any race car and instantly be quick. He is ADD’s most senior young driver at 22, and we believe that GP3 will accelerate his career towards his ultimate goal of Formula 1.”

The GP3 Series begins at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 8/9, when it supports the Spanish Grand Prix. It also features a round on the British GP bill at Silverstone on July 10/11, and the eighth and final event is at the Italian GP at Monza on September 11/12.

ADD hopes to announce the identity of Oakes’s team in the coming weeks, enabling him to undertake a full testing programme in the turbocharged Renault-engined GP3 racer.