Richard Mille Young Talent Academy winner Rafael Villagomez has joined BlackArts Racing for the 2021 Asian Formula 3 season.
The Mexican graduated from karts to car racing this year with Richard Mille’s backing, competing in French Formula 4 as well as signing a deal with Fortec Motorsports to also race in the British series.
He claimed one podium in France and finished sixth in the points, after missing one round, and his part-season in Britain also earned him a podium. He then stepped up to Euroformula for its Barcelona season finale, racing for Drivex School.
“Rafael is clearly a rising star with huge potential. We are happy to have him as one of our talented young drivers in the 2021 FIA F3 Asian Championship,” said BlackArts team principal Bill O’Brien.
Villagomez joins Zdenek Chovanec in BlackArts’ line-up, and the Hong Kong-based team is the first to announce more than one driver.
Its team manager Alex Yoong, who raced for Minardi in Formula 1 in 2001 and 2002, added: ”With today’s announcement, and our second and third signings of the season now completed, we are in excellent shape as we head to the UAE.
“Our three drivers are great prospects with a great future ahead of them. We now look forward to delivering, as BlackArts Racing always does.”
The other two drivers confirmed for Asian F3’s United Arab Emirates-based 2021 season are Hitech GP’s Reece Ushijima and Pinnacle Motorsport’s Alexandre Bardinon. Formula Scout understands Abu Dhabi Racing will run Amna Al Qubaisi in one of the two cars it plans to field.