British F3: Hoggard Sets Benchmark at Media Day

The BRDC British F3 Championship launched on Tuesday, with Johnathan Hoggard leading the way at the end of the full day of action.

Fortec Motorsport, who had two cars at the circuit today due to Kris Wright’s absence, finished one-and-two with multiple F4 race winner Hoggard leading F3 race winner Manuel Maldonado.

The series has so far confirmed fifteen drivers for the new season, with only JHR Developments absent from the test.

The first session saw series newcomer; Hoggard, top the standings, with a time of 1min24.729. The Fortec driver quickly got a hang of the car, beating the experienced face of Sasakorn Chaimongkol in the early hours.

Hoggard came to an abrupt halt in the second session though, causing the first red flag of the day causing his car to be lifted back to the pitlane. Instead it was Chaimongkol who took over at the top. The Thai driver will enter his second full season with the Hillspeed outfit and will be looking to build on his podiums last year.

Hoggard remained competitive going into the third session, becoming the only driver to drop below the 1min 24sec mark, setting a 1min 23.933, the quickest ever lap in a Tatuus-Cosworth MSV-016 around the circuit.

He would be followed in second by his Fortec Motorsport teammate Manuel Maldonado, 0.324sec behind. The Venezuelan was returning to the series for a third shot at the title, having become a race winner last year.

Combined Results 2019 Media Day

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Ayrton Simmons, who continues with the Chris Dittmann Racing squad after his guest appearance last season, was third overall with a time of 1min 24.322. The British F4 runner-up had briefly topped the running order, but remained ahead of his title rival Kiern Jewiss a tenth of a second further back.

It was a dire day for the Carlin compared to the teams usual pecking order, with Kaylen Frederick the best of the teams drivers in fifth ahead of Chaimongkol who failed to live up to his morning running. The top eight was rounded out by Neil Verhagen and Clement Novalak.