Alessio Lorandi is staying at the Jenzer Motorsport for the 2017 GP3 Series season, his first full season in the category, the team has announced.

Lorandi will continue to race alongside team-mate Arjun Maini, who also embarks on a full rookie campaign in the series during the year.

The Italian racer made his series debut with the Swiss team in the final two rounds of 2016, finishing just outside the points-scoring positions twice in Malaysia with 11th and 9th-placed finishes in its feature and sprint races. His performances put him in 23rd position in the Drivers’ Championship.

He also took part in post-season testing in Abu Dhabi with Jenzer where he consistently featured in the top-ten of the timesheets and topped the charts on the second day.

The switch to the series came after racing 54 times in the European Formula 3 championship, taking part in seven rounds for Carlin last season with his best result coming with a win in the third Pau race. Lorandi ended the season in 14th in its Drivers’ Championship with 94 points.

Lorandi is happy to continue his career with the team, believing that their relationship developed well in their short time together in the final two months of 2016.

“In the last two events of the 2016 season, it was already apparent that we were able to work very well together and that the chemistry with Andreas Jenzer and his technical staff was just right,” he said.

Team principal Jenzer praised his racer, saying that Lorandi’s performances in testing stood out to the team after his initial races.

“The real work began in the three official post-season test days of the series. Alessio impressed us with his professional commitment, which was rewarded with regular results at the top of the times,” he added.

Lorandi will be expected to step back into the cockpit in the first pre-season test in Estoril on March 22-23.