Tasmanian Alex Peroni will step up to the Formula Renault Eurocup Series in 2017.

Peroni moves into the 2017 Eurocup with British team Fortec Motorsport after he landed the Formula Renault Monoplace Championship last year.

Fortec offered the 17-year-old a place in its Eurocup squad following an end-of-season test session with the team at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Ever since I started racing karts as a seven-year-old I’ve dreamed of following the drivers I look up to into Formula 1,” Peroni said.

“Daniel Ricciardo raced successfully in Formula Renault on his way to F1, and I hope to do the same.

”Winning the Monoplace Championship last year was incredible, but Eurocup is the next level so I’ll have to work even harder.

“Having tested with Fortec last year, I’m confident that we can achieve great results together.”

Fortec Motorsport’s Formula Renault Eurocup manager, Martin Young, attended the announcement in Hobart.

“We are delighted that Alex will be racing with Fortec Motorsport this year,” Mr Young said.

“He came to our notice during the Monoplace Championship last year. Winning that series at just 16 years of age was no mean feat.

“Alex’s subsequent performances at the final Eurocup round and our Spa test session showed us that he had the speed to step up to Eurocup.

“He also worked very well with our race engineers, which was equally important.

“Alex is an exciting young driver. We believe he has the ability to be among the Eurocup front runners and challenge for race wins right from the start of the series.”

Peroni will travel to Europe in March for pre-season testing at Magny-Cours, Paul Ricard and the Nurburgring.

2017 Formula Renault Eurocup 
Round 1: April 21-23 Monza, Italy
Round 2: May 12-14 Silverstone, Great Britain
Round 3: May 19-21 Pau, France
Round 4: May 26-28 Monte Carlo, Monaco
Round 5: June 30-July 2 Hungaroring, Hungary
Round 6: July 14-16 Nurbürgring, Germany
Round 7: July 21-23 Red Bull Ring, Austria
Round 8: August 25-27 Paul Ricard, France
Round 9: September 22-24 Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Round 10: October 27-29 Barcelona, Spain