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The move to the European Formula Three series is a big chance to bring his Formula One goal closer by impressing the movers and shakers at the top of the Red Bull motor racing hierarchy, Brendon Hartley says.
The rising New Zealand driver returns to Europe shortly to join his Carlin Motorsport team for a "shakedown" of the car he will be contesting the European F3 series in.
Hartley competed in the British F3 series last season, scoring five wins on his way to third overall behind Carlin teammates Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) and Oliver Turvey (Britain) in the final standings.
When 2008 driver Richard Philippe and Carlin parted company, Hartley was offered his seat in the Euro series.
Team principal Trevor Carlin said Hartley had showed stunning pace in British F3 last year.
A new maturity and confidence emerged in Hartley which Carlin was confident would carry into 2009.
Hartley, 19, has been a member of the Red Bull development squad since he was 16. Red Bull development squad members are "apprenticed" with various teams and Hartley linked up with Carlin last year.
An obvious talent for making cars go faster created an impression when he raced the final rounds of the European series last year.
"Brendon was tremendously helpful to us, especially in respect to developing the cars and understanding the Kumho tyres," Carlin said.
Hartley's challenge this season is to turn the team's new chassis/engine combination into a winner.
Carlin have opted for the Dallara chassis and Volkswagen engine instead of the Dallara/Mercedes which they used last year.
Dallara/Mercedes is the popular standard to beat - in the hands of drivers such as Britain's F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton (2005) and German A1 GP star Nico Hulkenberg (2008) it has won the last five championships since 2003.
Hartley said the significant difference between the Euro and British cars was the tyres.
"The Euro series uses Kumhos while the British series uses Avons.
"Some might think it's not a big deal but it's a difference of 1 seconds of speed and the car needs to be set up differently," Hartley said.
"The Dallara/Volkswagen combination is relatively new. I need to work very hard to get the most out of the car and develop the car. In the big scheme of things, it is good in terms of preparing myself for F1 because it means I need to work well with the engineers to get the most out of the car as we need to improve it quite a lot.
"That's what Red Bull are looking for - how well I can develop the car with the team and making it work," said Hartley who is on the verge of gaining his Superlicence, costing $25,000, after testing the Red Bull F1 team's car over 370km at the Jerez circuit in Spain late last year.
Hartley said German teams ART, winners of the last five series, and Mucke Motorsport would be the teams to beat.
ART will run four entries and their line-up is headed by Frenchman Jules Bianchi, 19, who finished third overall last season as a rookie.
Hartley had not raced yet on two of the German circuits to be used - Lausitzring and Norisring - but they held no fears.
"It won't be too difficult - if you are a good driver, you should learn the track within five laps."
Compared with the British series, competition would be closer as there would be a lot more drivers who can potentially win in the Euro series.
However, he had raced most of them during last year's Macau Grand Prix when he blitzed through the field from 20th on the grid to finish third, setting a lap record along the way.
"I made some mistakes last year but if I learn from that, then everything should be good." The 10-round season begins in May at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany.
- NZPA
