Benjamin Pedersen of Copenhagen, Denmark, will make his debut behind the No. 24 DirtFish Ligier JS F3 machine with the F3 Americas Championship Powered by Honda as the supporting race to the NASCAR Xfinity Rock n Roll 170 presented by Amethyst Beverage at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend. Pedersen will fill the second F3 seat for Global Racing Group.

“It’s very exciting to get going in the new F3 Americas Championship,” Pedersen said. “I look forward to carrying over many of the things that I have learned in the F4 and developing the new F3 car with the help of Global Racing Group.”

Pedersen missed the opening three rounds of the newest single-chassis, single-engine, FIA regional championship last weekend. After completing the joint F4 U.S. Championship and F3 Americas eight-hour test in Pittsburgh, Pedersen decided to focus on regaining his championship lead in F4 U.S. and sit out the inaugural F3 Americas event.

“The whole point of the test was to see if running both series was possible, and by the end of the day we concluded that it really was a lot,” said Pedersen. “One of the things we really spend a lot of time here at Global and at this level is good quality debriefs, and it was really difficult to do that running both series at the same time, going from one car straight to the other. So we decided to switch our focus on getting our championship lead back in F4.”

Pedersen’s choice was reaffirmed after a top-10 finish and a podium advanced the Global Racing Group driver from third to second in the championship, respectively, just 16 points shy of first.

“I’m ready to see how fast I can catch up to the other drivers who already have one race weekend under their belts,” Pedersen continued. “The biggest change from F4 to F3 is getting used to the downforce and the higher capabilities of the car compared to F4.”

The Global Racing Group pilot will compete in the three scheduled F3 events that don’t conflict with F4 U.S. in an attempt to contend in both championships at Circuit of the Americas’ F1 United States Grand Prix in October.

“The goal maybe by the end of the season is to run both F4 and F3. It is a big goal to achieve but I think with the right amount of preparation and seat time it is possible,” Pedersen explained.

Pedersen will participate in two promoter test sessions on Thursday with qualifying held in the afternoon and three 35-minute races on Friday and Saturday.