Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Ayato Iwasaki has signed with Elite Motorsport to contest the full GB3 season this year after joining the team late in 2022.

The 19-year-old Japanese racer contested the final round of last season at Donington Park and picked up a best finish of sixth.

Iwasaki started 2022 in Formula Regional Asian Championship with Pinnacle Motorsport, and just missed out on scoring in the five-round series. He then did three Japanese Formula 4 rounds and performed well enough to come 16th in the standings. This winter he reunited with Pinnacle for one round of the FRegional Middle East series.

Before stepping up to single-seater racing, Iwaaki was a successful karter in Asia, winning the Senior Asian Karting Open in 2019, the RMC Japan KZ Championship in both 2020 and ’21 as well as the Senior RMC Japan crown two years ago.

“I feel GB3 is the best series for me at the moment in my career, both in terms of cost as well as the competitive level,” said Iwasaki. “The car is great to drive and the series goes to some very nice tracks.

“I really enjoyed my first time in the UK at Donington last year. The series is very well organised and the car is really fun to drive.

“I was very comfortable with Elite at Donington. All the mechanics, engineers and coaches were super friendly and made me feel very welcome.

“It is also a very competitive team with great results, always fighting at the front. I hope to be able to score more podiums and wins for them.”

Iwasaki has been doing several GB3 tests with Elite over the winter in England and also in Spain.

“I’m extremely pleased to have Ayato competing for us this season,” said Elite’s team manager Eddie Ives.

“He surpassed our expectations in the final GB3 event of the year last October, especially considering it was his first races in the category and at Donington Park – in fact his first time racing in the UK.

“Testing has been going well for him over the winter and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Ayato develops in GB3 during the year.”

The post Ayato Iwasaki commits to full GB3 season with Elite Motorsport appeared first on Formula Scout.

Elite Motorsport will return to a three-car line-up for this weekend’s GB3 championship climax at Donington Park with the signing of Japanese karting graduate Ayato Iwasaki.

Iwasaki already has some single-seater experience, having competed in this year’s Formula Regional Asian Championship for Pinnacle Motorsport, finishing 27th overall, and also took part in two rounds of the Japanese Formula 4 Championship.

He has various karting titles to his name in Asia, including the Senior Asian Karting Open in 2019, the RMC Japan KZ Championship in both 2020 and ’21 as well as the Senior RMC Japan crown last year.

“I’m very happy to get a chance to race the final round of the championship this year,” said Iwasaki.

“I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can and getting more experience in preparation for 2023.”

Having started the season with three drivers, James Hedley’s switch to JHR Developments at the halfway stage has meant Elite have run two cars for Tom Lebbon and John Bennett in the past three rounds.

“I’m really pleased to be running Ayato in the final three races at Donington this weekend, said Elite’s team principal Eddie Ives.

“We look forward to working with him and developing him as much as we can for whatever the future may hold. 

“Meanwhile Tom and John will be looking to end their respective seasons on a high.”

The post Japanese teenager Ayato Iwasaki joins Elite for Donington GB3 finale appeared first on Formula Scout.

Asian F3 Championship

Pinnacle Motorsport has named the four drivers who will race for it in Formula Regional Asian Championship this year.

Spanish Formula 4 graduates Dilano van‘t Hoff and Pepe Marti will be the most experienced drivers in its line-up, and will be joined by karter Ayato Iwasaki and sportscar star Salih Yoluc.

Both van’t Hoff and Marti debuted in single-seater racing in FRAC’s support series F4 United Arab Emirates at the start of last year, and so know Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit well ahead of racing on the tracks in FRegional cars.

Van’t Hoff went on to dominate Spanish F4 last year with MP Motorsport, winning 10 races on the way to the title after coming just short of taking the UAE crown, while Marti joined the debuting Campos Racing in Spain and won two races.

MP brought van’t Hoff into its FRegional European Championship line-up for the final three rounds of 2021.

Yoluc, 36, also has applicable circuit knowledge having won his class in the Dubai 24 Hours in 2015 and done many other races at Dubai Autodrome.

His career highlights include becoming the first ever winner of the FIA GT Nations Cup in 2018, being champion of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup’s Pro-Am class and winning that class in the Spa 24 Hours in 2019, and then taking victory in the GTEAm class of the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours. That same year he was title runner-up in International GT Open.

Last year he made a full-time move into prototype sportscars, but also gained his first single-seater experience by joining Euroformula testing at Spa-Francorchamps with Double R Racing.

Iwasaki comes from the Asian karting scene, spending several years competing on X30 Senior karts, and will also be making his single-seater racing debut in round one of FRAC at Yas Marina on January 22.

Pinnacle’s previous FRAC form includes wins with Liam Lawson in 2018, and taking Jack Doohan and Pierre-Louis Chovet to the title runner-up spot in 2020 and ’21 respectively.

The post Le Mans winner and F4 stars make Pinnacle Motorsport’s FRAC line-up appeared first on Formula Scout.