Hungry Hitech Strike Home Podium

The revered home of British motor racing and just a stone’s throw from Hitech’s team HQ, Silverstone gave a thrilling setting for the first round of our 2017 campaign. Hungry to get back out on track, the whole team geared up for a gripping weekend, the sounds and smells around the track confirming the FIA Formula 3 European Championship was back in business.

With the British weather dealing it’s hand, Race One saw our formidable foursome gear up to tackle a slippery start to the 2017 season. Starting behind the safety car, the fresh new grid eagerly waited to pounce, with eyes firmly focused on claiming every opportunity in the challenging conditions. Spinning the tyres as the safety car peeled in, a daring tousle for position saw our Russian racer Nikita Mazepin caught out, colliding with Mawson and Piquet, his F3 charger made a trip to the gravel, sadly bringing his race to an end. With the safety car making many appearances throughout the 16 laps, it was a turbulent first foray for the team.

Lining up in 5th on the grid for Race Two, Jake Hughes had the bit between his teeth, eager to prove his worth at his home track. Mastering his start where others faltered, the BRDC SuperStar launched his Hitech GP charger into 3rd, ahead of Günther. It wasn’t long until his German rival was hot on his heels in the opening laps, we held our breath as Jake expertly nailed each apex, to hold him behind. With Ericsson and Ilott powering ahead, managing tyres was the name of the game, in the chase to the flag. Taking it all in his stride, Jake swept around the historic track to bring the car home for the team’s first podium of the year. The sweet taste of champagne gave the perfect opening to our 2017 season.

Delighted with his performance, Jake gave us his lowdown: “We had a good start which enabled us to get straight into 3rd and after a bit of defending in the early laps, we managed to bring it home to get Hitech’s first podium of 2017. We obviously want more, but with pace issues we had, this podium was a welcome boost.”

With the track bathed in sunshine for Race Three, our fearless foursome gave a stunning display of wheel-to-wheel racing throughout the pack. Bouncing back from disappointment, our Russian rocket Nikita Mazepin perfectly handled the pressure from behind, to cross the line in superb 7th. With our hearts racing, there were many tapping foot in the garage as Tadasuke Makino treated us to an action-packed thriller in the midfield with Beckmann and fellow countryman Sato. Ducking and diving, their close-fought battle gave the early morning crowds something to gasp and cheer about. Whilst a super drive from Ralf Aron clinched the final points paying position to round off a positive weekend for the team.

With round one in the bag, we look ahead to revving our V8 engines once more in Monza in two short weeks time. Eager as ever for that sweet taste of victory, we sign off with a some motivating words from team principle Oliver Oakes: “Whilst we lacked in some performance from the get go this weekend, we can also take positives and be proud of our progress. As always, the team will pull together and push to be back where we want to be, when we hit the track at Monza in a week’s time.”