KENT'S reigning Formula Renault UK champion Mike Conway has finalised his deal to race in next year's British Formula 3 Championship with Fortec Motorsport.

The 21-year old from Sevenoaks won eight races with Fortec on the way to the FRenault UK title and is delighted to be staying with the Northamptonshire-based squad for 2005.

He said: "I'm really happy with the deal. It's good to get it sorted so that I can start moving forward without any need to think about what I'm doing next year.

"Now I can focus 100 per cent on what I need to do and learn as much as I can about the car.

"I don't know what the competition will be like in British Formula 3 next season, but I'm sure it's going to be tough - it always is. It's going to be a big challenge."

Conway's dominant performance in FRenault UK also won him a place as one of six finalists for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

He will be engineered by Fortec's vastly experienced engineer Phil De Fazio in 2005, and is looking forward to the British F3 series' visits to European Grand Prix circuits Monza in Italy, Nurburgring in Germany and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The championship will also race at British Grand Prix circuit Silverstone.

Conway added: "I think the championship calendar is really good. I think we'll be using the tracks we should be using and it'll be a great opportunity to race on four GP circuits.

"British F3 should be a proper rival to the European F3 Championship now. For me, the European championship would have been a gamble because it would have been all new tracks, a new team, a new car.

"I chose the British championship because I know my team and I know most of the tracks we'll be going to. I've got a lot of confidence after winning FRenault this year, and my aim is to win the F3 championship next year, or at least be in the top three." I've got a good team, a good engineer, a good package for next year and, in testing, He stressed: "I've already gone quicker than anyone else has in a Fortec car. With the way things are going, it's certainly possible for me to be winning races in 2005."

Conway will continue testing with Fortec over the winter. The 2005 British F3 Championship gets underway at Donington Park on April 3.