Hitech GP’s first two GB3 seasons assessed

Hitech GP are one of the leading teams in junior single-seaters nationwide. Since 2002, they have become an established name for their results in Formula 3 series’ around the world, as well as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

They joined the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship (now GB3) for 2020, and the Silverstone-based outfit expands its programme to the F4 British Championship in 2022.

We take a look at their first two race-winning campaigns in Britain’s premier single-seater series here, and look ahead to what they can achieve in their third year in GB3.

2020

Hitech joined the championship when it was still called the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, and took three wins and 14 total podiums in their first season, with 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship contenders Kush Maini and Reece Ushijima.

Maini mounted a title challenge after being called up on the eve of the season, winning at Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Snetterton as 2022 FIA F3 Hitech driver Kaylen Frederick took the championship with Carlin at the final round.

Japanese-American driver Ushijima took podiums at Donington and Brands Hatch in his first season out of karting, finishing 11th in the final standings. He stayed with Hitech for 2021 as it announced a three-pronged attack for his, and its second GB3 campaign.

2021

Hitech’s second year in GB3 coincided with the introduction of a Teams’ Championship, in which the top two point-scoring finishers for each team in each race were counted.

That rule allowed two-car teams like Chris Dittmann Racing and Douglas Motorsport to compete on an even footing with three-car entries like Hitech, Carlin and (occasionally) Fortec Motorsport.

Ushijima stayed on for 2021 and was Hitech’s best performer, with two wins at Silverstone and six podiums putting him fourth in the standings, despite tangling with eventual champion Zak O’Sullivan at Donington and Snetterton, and team-mate Bart Horsten in Race 2 at Donington.

Those incidents, coupled with an overall downturn in form in the latter stages of the season, saw him fade to fourth behind Ayrton Simmons and Christian Mansell, but he graduates to FIA F3 with Van Amersfoort Racing for 2022.

Australian Bart Horsten joined Hitech for his second year in GB3, after Lanan Racing were replaced by dominant Ginetta Junior outfit Elite Motorsport. He finished one place ahead of Ushijima in 2020, and took three podiums in 2021. He was denied a maiden win at Oulton Park on countback, as Luke Browning took his first GB3 victory at his home circuit in a wildcard appearance with Fortec.

Contact with Mikkel Grundtvig at Silverstone and Ushijima at Donington tainted a season in which he showed real pace on several occasions; a double-pole at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps indicated he should have finished higher than sixth in the standings and challenged for podiums more regularly. Since the 2021 season ended, he has tested Euroformula Open machinery with Double R Racing. At time of writing, he has yet to confirm a drive for 2022.

Sebastian Alvarez returned to racing after a one-year, COVID-enforced hiatus, the Mexican having won five races on his way to second place in the 2019 F4 British Championship. He took two podiums with Hitech in 2021, including a win at Snetterton, eventually finishing eighth in the standings.

He also appeared in Euroformula’s round at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya a week after the GB3 season ended, taking two top-ten finishes, and won at Yas Marina Circuit in the LMP3 class of the Asian Le Mans Series in February 2022. Autosport also reported in November 2021 that Alvarez was being considered for a place on the 2022 McLaren Driver Development Programme (DDP).

Hitech finished second in the inaugural GB3 Teams’ Championship with three wins and 11 podiums, ahead of Fortec but behind champions Carlin, who have run four of the last five GB3 Drivers’ Champions.

Carlin took ten wins and 19 podiums by comparison, with third-placed Fortec winning four races and taking 17 podiums courtesy of Mikkel Grundtvig, Roberto Faria and Oliver Bearman.

Bearman, though, only contested three rounds, meaning Fortec finished third in the standings with two full-time drivers.

2022

Hitech announced all three of its 2022 GB3 drivers at once in February, with karting prospect Cian Shields, 2020 British F4 champion Luke Browning and 2020 Team USA Scholar Bryce Aron joining the team.

Shields brings impressing karting pedigree into GB3, finishing third in the 2018 IAME Winter Cup – X30 Junior and winning the 2019 IAME Series Benelux in the same class.

Browning, as mentioned, won the 2020 F4 British Championship with Fortec ahead of 2021 GB3 champion Zak O’Sullivan, taking third in the 2021 ADAC Formula 4 standings alongside Italian F4.

He finished third in the 2018 Ginetta Junior Championship, in a sophomore season which brought eight wins and 18 podiums, after winning once and taking three podiums in the 2016 Junior Saloon Car Championship.

Bryce Aron brings the most GB3 experience of the three, having competed with Carlin in 2021.

Though he missed out on a podium, he delivered a best finish of fourth at Brands Hatch and Donington early in the season and finished in twelfth position in the standings.

His single-seater career began in the American Formula Ford scene with third place in the 2019 F1600 Championship Series, before the Team USA Scholar moved to the UK to compete in the BRSCC National FF1600 Championship, finishing fifth. He capped his 2020 campaign off with third in Silverstone’s Formula Ford 1600 Walter Hayes Trophy and fifth in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

Hitech brings one of the most diverse ranges of experience to the 2022 GB3 grid, with success at continental Formula 4, karting and Formula Ford level.

In mounting a Drivers’ Championship challenge in its first season, and finishing second in the Teams’ Championship in its second, Hitech has marked its card for success in GB3 in 2022.

The team has a history of winning races at all levels, and made a winning start on its return to British competition. Its expansion into British F4 in 2022 may signal an increase in resources dedicated to winning domestic championships on top of its wins in FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3.