Dmitry Suranovich will move into GP3 in 2012 after Manor confirmed him as its first driver for the forthcoming championship. The 16-year-old Russian tested for the squad at Valencia and Jerez at the end of 2011.
2012 will not only represent Suranovich's first year in the championship, but also his first full season in single seaters. After several seasons in karting he contested four Formula Abarth events in 2011, while he took his first single-seater podium in this year's New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series.
"I'm really happy to have secured a drive for Marussia Manor Racing, a winning team which is strongly linked to Formula 1," Suranovich said. "It's going to be an exciting season and I can't wait to get started. It's going to be a challenge, but I am ready for it.
"At the winter tests last year, I already felt comfortable in the car and working with the team. Now we can continue to work hard together in order to achieve the best result possible in my first season in GP3."
Team principal Pete Sliwinski said 2011 testing had convinced the team of Suranovich's potential.
"At the tests in Spain at the end of the year he already understood the category quickly and demonstrated his potential," Sliwinski explained. "We are confident that he will do a good job this year."