Australian Mark Webber has thrown his support behind an Australian team in next years GP3 championship.

Ten teams have entered for the new series which begins next year and is designed to provide a more affordable alternative to traditional Formula Three.

Webber will join with the Arden team of his Red Bull racing boss Christian Horner to run under an Australian licence, other teams announced today include Great Britain who will be represented by three teams: Manor Racing, Hitech and Carlin Motorsport. France will be represented by 2009 GP2 Series Champions ART Grand Prix and Tech 1 Racing.

Spain’s Addax Team, German Mücke Motorsport, Irish Status Grand Prix, and Swiss Jenzer Motorsport complete an impressive entry list.

GP3 Organiser Bruno Michel said: “The entry selection process has been thought off very carefully and we have only selected teams that proved to be most successful in their categories. This was of course a very important step for GP3 and I am very pleased to welcome them. I sincerely believe that we enjoy a strong and extremely competitive line-up.

Production of the new Renault powered Dallara will start shortly with three cars delivered to each team in the first weeks of 2010.

The first official test session will take place in March 2010, followed by two other sessions before the opening race weekend at the first Formula One European Grand Prix in 2010.

The rest of the calendar will follow the Formula One European events excluding Monaco and Istanbul; furthermore, the championship will follow GP2 Series stand alone races.

Long term plans may include expansion into the Asian region which could include Australia.