Photo: F3 Asian Championship
Australian driver Tommy Smith will finally make the switch to European racing at the Regional Formula 3 level with JD Motorsport after the coronavirus pandemic prevented the move from occurring in 2020.
The 18-year-old raced in Asian F3 for two seasons, with a best finish of sixth place achieved on two occasions in the 2019-20 season finale at Buriram, and gained experience before that in New Zealand’s Formula Ford 1600 series.
He was set to race in the Formula Renault Eurocup last year with JD, but travel restrictions and a shifting of the academic calendar were cited for ending those plans and he did no further racing in 2020 after Asian F3 finished in February.
Smith instead now joins the Italian team as it moves into the Formula Regional European Championship, which uses the same Tatuus T-318 chassis as Asian F3 and the Eurocup and is adopting the Eurocup’s Renault engine supply for 2021.
“I’m delighted to welcome Tommy back to our team,” said JD team principal Roberto Cavallari.
“Due to his school commitments and the worldwide health emergency, which were incompatible with racing in Europe, he was forced to cancel his [2020] programme right after testing.
“Despite the challenges, he stayed close to us and for 2021 he will finally be able to run in the full Formula Regional by Alpine Championship.”
For Smith’s third Regional F3 campaign he will be team-mate to Dudu Barrichello, son of former Formula 1 racer Rubens, and JD plans to add another driver to its FREC line-up after testing several drivers during winter.