There are more than four cars confirmed. Jesse Wakeman, the young South Australian, will be racing. so too will Chris Gilmour. Ray Chamberlain will also be there.
I believe BRM are talking to internationals for there 07s as are Astuti for their 07 car.
Last I heard from people in the know suggest between 15 - 18 for Clipsal but in this climate 15 would be an achievement.
No doubt it will be a smaller grid this year however that was probably going to be expected. However it will be no less feisty with some good drivers suiting up.
The question must be asked, however, why is Formula Ford so strong and Aussie F3 not? The costs are not a lot different, in fact Aus F3 National class is now the same price as FFord (For between six - ten seconds per lap quicker) - at between $15 - $20K per round.
IMHO a lot of it is perception and a lack of support from CAMS and the AMSF.
Young drivers want to race where the CAMS / AMSF backed drivers race and that is Formula Ford. It is a travesty that the best that the governing body can do for their 'premier category' (Their words, not mine) is a prize to a AIS boot camp for the F3 champion.
It is also wrong that CAMS encourages out of depth drivers to go straight to Europe prior instead of doing a season of Aus F3 first.
Time for an F3 Rising Stars car. One of them and you'll see a lot more drivers coming from FF to Formula 3 and, therefore, a stronger series.
I would suggest that this is extremely unlikely and probably impossible given the different philosophies at hand.