Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Nikita Johnson will join Hitech GP’s FIA Formula 3 Championship line-up this weekend at Silverstone to make his second race outing.
The American debuted with DAMS last week at the Red Bull Ring as a stand-in for Niko Lacorte, who was serving a race ban, and propped up the timesheet in his first qualifying session, then came 18th and 22nd in the two races.
Now with a weekend of race experience, having been completely new to the car in Austria, Johnson aims for a strong performance as he takes over the Hitech car previously occupied by Jesse Carrasquedo Jr on a two-round deal.
“I want to thank Hitech for the faith they have shown in promoting me to their F3 team, which has enjoyed so much success,” said Johnson.
“I feel ready to compete at this level and after a strong debut in the series last week, I’m excited to step up within the Hitech environment and help the team achieve its goals for the second half of the season.”
The 17-year-old American is currently racing for Hitech in GB3, and sits ninth in the standings with two podiums. He will miss this weekend’s Hungaroring round due to racing at Silverstone.
Johnson has already raced further up the single-seater ladder in Indy Nxt, and is three races into a four-race campaign. His best race result so far is a seventh place, and his highest starting position is 11th.
He won twice and came 11th in the points last year in GB3 as a part-timer, and between his two seasons in that championship raced in Formula Regional Oceania where he claimed one win and five other podiums en route to third in the standings.
“We are pleased to see Nikita make the step up from our GB3 team to Hitech’s F3 line-up at this pivotal point in the season,” Hitech’s F3 team manager Paul Bellringer said.
“At the age of 17, he already has a remarkable record of success in multiple single-seater championships, and his ability was on full display in Austria last weekend during his impressive F3 debut.
“It is intended that Nikita will still feature during the remainder of the GB3 season, but we are delighted to provide him with the opportunity to progress within the Hitech team and unlock even more of his talent.
“We would like to congratulate Jesse Carrasquedo Jr on his own very positive debut in Spain and Austria, and we wish him well for the next stage of his career.”
Carrasquedo, whose primary campaign this year is in Eurocup-3, had a best finish of 13th from his four F3 races.