Double R Racing have been the first one to announce their 2013 lineup for the British Formula Three championship as they’ve confirmed they will be running Formula Pilota China graduates and teammates Antonio Giovinazzi and Sean Gelael.
The graduation to British F3 will be a welcome reward for their respective maiden seasons in car racing. While Gelael has impressed in FPC in 2012, finishing second in the ‘Best Asian Driver’ category at the mere age of sixteen, he and everyone else were outshone by the Italian Giovinazzi, who easily dominated the series, winning it in a similar fashion to that displayed by the Swiss rising star Matheo Tuscher a year before that.
The young duo took part in pre-season tests with the team at Pembrey and impressed enough to get signed on, according to team chief Anthony Hieatt who added that the team “are delighted to have them on board and really looking forward to working with them over the winter and into the new season.”
The newly-signed Indonesian driver Gelael revealed his F3 venture was a multi-year plan: “Boyo’ [Hieatt] has been working with us in Asia for the past six months and during that time I’ve built up a good relationship with him. I have a lot to learn and view F3 as a two-year plan.”
Meanwhile, the Italian rising star Giovinazzi is quoted as saying: “This is a great opportunity for me. I am really looking forward to stepping up to British F3 after such a successful time in karting and in FPC. I want to thank everyone for making this happen.”
The FPC graduate duo have shared a total of nine wins in 2012, with two of those coming from Giovinazzi’s brilliant one-off appearance in Formula Abarth.