Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Ayato Iwasaki has signed with Elite Motorsport to contest the full GB3 season this year after joining the team late in 2022.
The 19-year-old Japanese racer contested the final round of last season at Donington Park and picked up a best finish of sixth.
Iwasaki started 2022 in Formula Regional Asian Championship with Pinnacle Motorsport, and just missed out on scoring in the five-round series. He then did three Japanese Formula 4 rounds and performed well enough to come 16th in the standings. This winter he reunited with Pinnacle for one round of the FRegional Middle East series.
Before stepping up to single-seater racing, Iwaaki was a successful karter in Asia, winning the Senior Asian Karting Open in 2019, the RMC Japan KZ Championship in both 2020 and ’21 as well as the Senior RMC Japan crown two years ago.
“I feel GB3 is the best series for me at the moment in my career, both in terms of cost as well as the competitive level,” said Iwasaki. “The car is great to drive and the series goes to some very nice tracks.
“I really enjoyed my first time in the UK at Donington last year. The series is very well organised and the car is really fun to drive.
“I was very comfortable with Elite at Donington. All the mechanics, engineers and coaches were super friendly and made me feel very welcome.
“It is also a very competitive team with great results, always fighting at the front. I hope to be able to score more podiums and wins for them.”
Iwasaki has been doing several GB3 tests with Elite over the winter in England and also in Spain.
“I’m extremely pleased to have Ayato competing for us this season,” said Elite’s team manager Eddie Ives.
“He surpassed our expectations in the final GB3 event of the year last October, especially considering it was his first races in the category and at Donington Park – in fact his first time racing in the UK.
“Testing has been going well for him over the winter and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Ayato develops in GB3 during the year.”