First pictures of Joel Eriksson’s 2016 Formula 3 car

The car set to be driven by Joel Eriksson in his rookie FIA Formula 3 European Championship season has been given its final livery, disclosed for the first time today as part of the build-up to this week’s official test at Italy’s Vallelunga circuit.

The car features a black, red and white colour scheme, and is being run by Team Motopark as 17-year-old Swede Eriksson steps up from a successful ADAC Formula 4 campaign with the German squad last year.

The Dallara-built F312 chassis is powered by a four-cylinder, two-litre Volkswagen engine, producing in excess of 230 bhp and a top speed of around 270 km/h. The tyres are provided by South Korean company Hankook, the control FIA F3 European Championship supplier since 2012.

Joel Eriksson is currently on site at Vallelunga, where official FIA F3 European Championship pre-season testing kicks off on Thursday. Running across two days, the test marks Eriksson’s first opportunity to go head to head with all of his fellow (confirmed) 2016 competitors as the field converges on the outskirts of Rome.

“I think this will be an interesting two days, and I’m looking forward to it,” Eriksson says. “All the teams have conducted private tests over the winter, but this is different – the first time we all unite at the same place. Of course, testing is always testing and we won’t get the whole picture until we go racing, but at least we’ll have some proper indications. We will stick to our own programme, which is quite thorough, and it’ll be good fun being back in the car!”

Team Motopark will field four cars in the FIA F3 European Championship in 2016. Joining Eriksson on the line-up are Red Bull Junior Team drivers Niko Kari (Finland) and Sérgio Sette Câmara (Brazil), as well as Ferrari-backed Guan Yu Zhou (China).

Regular updates from the Vallelunga test will be forthcoming at Joel Eriksson’s Facebook page and at www.fiaf3europe.com.