Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Hitech GP has completed its 2026 GB3 line-up with the signings of Deagen Fairclough and Yuhao Fu.

Fairclough is returning to GB3 after coming third in last year’s standings and scoring a maiden victory at the Monza finale.

The 19-year-old started his car racing career driving tin-tops in Junior Saloons and BRSCC Fiesta Junior before earning a move into single-seaters by winning a ROKiT-backed Racing Star Formula 4 Esports competition.

He finished third as a rookie in British F4 in 2023 with JHR Developments, and a switch to Hitech for his sophomore season yielded a dominant title success with a record-breaking 14 wins. 

Fairclough was the recipient of the 2024 Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award, and tested an Aston Martin Formula 1 car last year as part of his prize.

“I’m really happy to be staying with Hitech for another season in GB3,” he said. “Last year taught me a lot, and I feel like we’ve built a strong base together. I’m excited to keep working with the team and to go into 2026 ready to fight for strong results.”

“Deagen made strong progress throughout his first GB3 season, and his commitment and work ethic stood out,” added Hitech’s GB3 team manager Phil Blow.  “Having continuity for a second year is a big positive, and we believe that with his experience base, he’s well positioned to take another step forward in 2026.”

Fu is stepping up to GB3 after two seasons competing in F4.

The 16-year-old made his first single-seater starts in the UAE4 and F4 South East Asia in 2023. The following year he came fourth in Chinese F4, taking two victories, and was 19th in British F4 with Virtuosi Racing.

In 2025 he took 15th in the F4 Middle East championship and was 25th in British F4 following a switch to Xcel Motorsport.

“I’m really excited to be joining Hitech for this GB3 campaign,” said Fu. “After gaining so much experience across different series, I’m looking forward to working with the team and pushing for strong results in 2026.”

The post Fairclough remains at Hitech GP for second GB3 shot appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: MSV TV

Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough emerged from a highly eventful second contest of the weekend at Monza as a GB3 race-winner.

A chaotic early part of the race resulted in the safety car being required three times.

Having been challenged off the line by JHR Development’s Noah Lisle and Fairclough, Rodin Motorsport’s polesitter Ninovic locked up approaching turn one, forcing all three drivers to miss the corner. Lisle emerged with the lead from Fairclough and Ninovic upon rejoining the circuit, while there was a separate incident directly behind them.

Xcel Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was the leading car to negotiate the first chicane, but he bounced over a kerb and made contact with Reza Seewooruthun and retired almost immediately with a broken front-right suspension. Seewooruthun also appeared to suffer damage and speared across the road into the path of Newman Chi, was spun into retirement with a broken rear ring.

Racing resumed on lap three, but again there was turn one drama. Ninovic made a great restart and immediately swept by Fairclough before challenging Lisle for the lead. Lisle locked up under braking, with Ninovic taking avoiding action by cutting the corner and Lisle also missing the second part of the opening chicane. Fairclough powered past the pair into the lead, and Ninovic rejoined back in third.

But again, the safety car was required as JHR’s Bart Harrison retired after tangling with Isaac Phelps, and there was a separate incident further round the lap: Kabir Anurag ran through the gravel on the exit of the della Roggia chicane and then, as he rejoined, forced Maxim Rehm completely off the road and into the barriers.

The track returned to green on lap five, with Fairclough breaking clear and Ninovic reclaiming second from Lisle, who also lost a further place to Gianmarco Pradel. As the cars came round to complete the lap, Argenti with Prema’s August Raber slid off into the barriers at Parabolica, and the contest was neutralised once more.

The safety car peeled into the pitlane at the end of lap seven, and Fairclough locked up into the first chicane as he defended from Ninovic and cut the corner, and his rival slightly missed the corner as well. Ninovic swept by into the lead as Fairclough rejoined the circuit, with Pradel and Lisle close behind them.

Rodin’s Pradel snatched second from Fairclough on the outside into Parabolica, with the latter drawing back alongside and reclaiming the position at turn one.

Fairclough then got a run at Ninovic, and he was back into the lead at della Roggia. Ninovic was forced to defend from Pradel later around lap at Parabolica, while an incident ensued directly behind them, as Lisle was rear-ended into a spin by Hillspeed’s Lucas Fluxa and limped into the pitlane to retire.

Ninovic challenged Fairclough as the pair started the penultimate lap but was not able to get by. The pair went side by side again into della Roggia on the final tour, and Fairclough held on before leading Ninovic and Pradel home for his first win.

Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari negotiated all the chaos in the race to climb from 20th on the grid to fourth, with Abbi Pulling taking fifth ahead of Kai Daryanani, Jack Sherwood and Anurag.

Race results (12 laps)

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Deagen Fairclough took part in his maiden Formula 1 test with Aston Martin last week, part of his prize for winning the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award.

GB3 racer Fairclough got behind the wheel of the team’s 2023 car, the AMR23 – as driven to eight podiums that year by Fernando Alonso – around Silverstone on Thursday.

“I’m extremely, extremely lucky to have that opportunity to test drive a Formula 1 car, it’s a dream come true,” he told media including Formula Scout.

Fairclough, whose single-seater career started when he won the Rokit Racing Star competition for sim racers, dominated  British Formula 4 last year and is currently fourth in his rookie season of GB3.

The 19-year-old had a “really important” day on the Aston Martin F1 simulator prior to the test: “I learnt so much technique-wise for the F1 car that I had to carry into the [test] day. It was a really beneficial experience for me, to get to work with the engineers was really helpful.”

Describing the feeling of driving an F1 car on track, he said: “It felt like a dream, it didn’t feel real.

“It was just phenomenal, just going out onto the track for the first time. And I remember just hitting the brakes and it just stopped and I was like, right, ‘we’re gonna have to really trust it today’.

“It was just an absolute dream come true. I’m so lucky, I can’t put it into words and I can’t describe the actual sensation and the feeling of the car

“It just makes me want to strive more and make, make it to top step of F1 and and it’s really given me that motivation to get there.”

Fairclough experienced a significant step up from his usual GB3 machinery, with a typical F1 laptime around Silverstone being nearly 30 seconds faster.

“Like you, can’t get your head around it to do Copse flat out, to have the confidence. Going from like say a GB3 where you’re braking or you’re doing a half lift to just saying ‘screw it, let’s let’s go flat out’ and you’re going twice the speed is really insane.

He added: “Once you’ve processed everything coming at you at a million miles an hour, it’s a nice chill ride. Like, it’s just being so precise and getting everything spot on.

“Maggots and Becketts is another sequence of corners, probably the best in the country, I feel, but to do it flat out and only a lift is, is just like crazy. In GB3 and F4 you’re braking for the first left and [in F1] you’re just doing a a slight lift, it’s crazy.

“So the actual downforce capabilities and the amount of things that you actually learn across the day, it’s a different technique to what I’m currently driving in GB3.

“So there’s a lot being taken on board and I’m really pleased with how it went.”

The post “A dream come true”: Fairclough enjoys prize Aston Martin F1 test appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

GB3 and British Formula 4 began this week by testing on Silverstone’s Grand Prix layout.

In GB3, Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre started off on top with a 1m53.775s in session one on Monday. He led Argenti with Prema’s Yuanpu Cui by 0.231 seconds and an unnamed driver in JHR Developments’ #10 car.

Deagen Fairclough lowered the pace to 1m52.846s in session two, edging Hitech GP team-mate Keanu Al Azhari by 0.149s and JHR’s #10 driver.

They, and Argenti’s Lucas Fluxa, failed to improve in the afternoon but JHR’s unnamed driver topped session three, posting a 1m52.302s to pip Cui by 0.074s. JHR’s Kai Daryanani was a further 0.1s back.

Fairclough looked to be fastest again in session four, but with his final lap team-mate Nikita Johnson set a 1m53.13s to beat him by 0.085s. Macintyre was third, 0.018s slower than Fairclough.

Hitech led the way on Tuesday morning, its drivers finding their peak pace in session five after the chequered flag. A 1m53.427s earned Fairclough first place by 0.103s over Al Azhari, and Johnson trailed by 0.514s. There were two more cars on track, and Argenti ran Formula Regional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire.

Fairclough was marginally quicker in session six and set his benchmark 1m53.286s early on. He denied JHR’s #10 driver by a slim 0.025s, and there was a gap of 0.135s to Macintyre in third.

The top four were covered by less than 0.05s in session seven, which Daryanani led. He posted a 1m53.571s to beat Cui by 0.015s, Fairclough by 0.024s and Macintyre by 0.047s.

JHR’s Noah Lisle topped the last session with a personal best of 1m53.309s. Fairclough was 0.058s slower and Al Azhari was 0.203s behind in third.

British F4 was preparing for its non-championship races at Silverstone on the British Grand Prix’s support bill, and Argenti Motorsport’s August Raber was quickest in session one thanks to a final-lap improvement to 2m01.801s.

He beat Virtuosi Racing’s Salim Hanna Hernandez by 0.056s, Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin was third and Rodin’s Ella Lloyd was fourth with her fastest lap of testing.

Hanna was second again in session two, 0.155s off Argenti’s Ethan Jeff-Hall who lowered the pace to 2m01.648s. JHR’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling set a 2m01.863s in third, and did not improve thereon.

In the afternoon, Hanna moved to the top. His 2m01.369s benchmark in session three put him 0.332s clear of McLaughlin and 0.393s up on Jeff-Hall, but he too had now found his pace limit.

Hitech’s Thomas Bearman set a 2m01.497s to edge Hanna by 0.019s and McLaughlin by 0.049s in session four, with Argenti’s Arjen Kraling in fourth.

Session five on Tuesday was closely contested. Hanna’s 2m02.1s earned him top spot by 0.06s over Raber, with Jeff-Hall, Xcel Motorsport’s Theo Palmer and Bearman all within 0.1s of him.

McLaughlin and Molnar moved into first and second overall in session six, as the former set a 2m01.328s and the latter was just 0.014s behind. Raber was 0.319s back in third.

Half of the field set personal bests in the afternoon, with Bearman taking fourth in the combined classification by topping session seven with a 2m01.466s. He led fellow improver Jeff-Hall by 0.166s and McLaughlin by 0.272s.

Testing concluded with another super close session. Bearman pipped McLaughlin by 0.053s, who was 0.001s faster than Molnar and 0.034s ahead of Jeff-Hall. Fortec Motorsports’ Ary Bansal improved to 2m01.903s in fifth.

There were nine drivers not currently racing in British F4 who took part, including Ginetta Junior frontrunner Alfie Slater (Rodin), younger brother of GB3 race-winner Freddie.

Test results

The post Fairclough fastest as GB3 and British F4 test at Silverstone appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Australian duo Patrick Heuzenroeder and Alex Ninovic scored maiden poles in GB3’s two qualifying sessions at Zandvoort.

Xcel Motorsport’s Heuzenroeder was quickest by 0.392 seconds in Q1, while Rodin Motorsport’s Ninovic topped Q2 by 0.098s. Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough was second fastest in both sessions to secure front row spots for races one and two.

Three 30-minute practice sessions were held on Friday, and Reza Seewooruthun’s 1m29.649s effort in FP1 proved to be the quickest time of the day.

Fairclough initially led FP1 with a 1m30.672s, but Seewooruthun (Argenti Motorsport with Prema) set a 1m29.652s with five minutes remaining and then improved by a further 0.003s. Ninovic claimed second late on, while Heuzenroeder edged out Hitech’s Nikita Johnson to third by 0.036s.

The top four drivers’ times were not challenged in the final two sessions, which were both topped by Fairclough. He pipped Ninovic by 0.003s in FP2 and Heuzenroeder by an even tighter margin of 0.002s in FP3, also setting a new personal best to climb to fifth in practice’s overall classification.

Fairclough set the early pace in Q1 on Saturday with a 1m30.599s, but after improving to 1m30.433s he was beaten moments later by Heuzenroeder’s 1m30.041s. His team-mate Jack Sherwood climbed to third but then found the barriers at turn two, ending his qualifying and bringing out the red flags.

Heuzenroeder’s time remained unbeaten once the track returned to green, while Rodin duo Gianmarco Pradel and Ninovic were separated by 0.001s after improving to third and fourth. Seewooruthun also set a new personal best late on to take fifth ahead of JHR Developments’ Kai Daryanani.

Johnson led Q2 with a 1m30.249s until briefly being displaced by Fairclough, and he responded by going fastest again on his next lap. Heuzenroeder then lowered the pace to 1m30.138s, but it was not enough for another pole.

Ninovic’s 1m29.894s at the halfway stage of Q2 ended up being the session’s fastest lap, as Fairclough shuffled Huezenroeder to third. Seewooruthun climbed to fourth ahead of Johnson, who was not able to improve in the closing stages.

JHR’s Noah Lisle, who sits second in the standings, qualified eighth and seventh in the two sessions. He is the highest placed driver in the championship present, since Hillspeed’s points leader Freddie Slater is racing in Formula Regional Europe at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.

Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Patrick Heuzenroeder JHR Developments 1m30.041s
2 Deagen Fairclough Hitech GP +0.392s
3 Gianmarco Pradel Rodin Motorsport +0.538s
4 Alex Ninovic Rodin Motorsport +0.539s
5 Reza Seewooruthun Argenti w/ Prema +0.688s
6 Kai Daryanani JHR Developments +0.727s
7 Yuanpu Cui Argenti w/ Prema +0.769s
8 Noah Lisle JHR Developments +0.799s
9 Keanu Al Azhari Hitech GP +0.805s
10 Hugo Schwarze Velocity Racing Development +0.858s

Race 2 grid
1 Ninovic 1m29.894s
2 Fairclough +0.098s
3 Heuzenroeder +0.119s
4 Seewooruthun +0.275s
5 Nikita Johnson Hitech GP +0.298s
6 Cui +0.301s
7 Lisle +0.311s
8 Pradel +0.327s
9 Schwarze +0.333s
10 Al Azhari +0.547s

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Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough ended GB3’s two-day pre-season test at Snetterton on top after eclipsing Freddie Slater’s day one benchmark on Thursday.

Fairclough set a new best of 1m40.468s in the final session to edge both Hillspeed’s Slater and Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic, who also both improved on day two, and the trio were separated by just 0.052 seconds.

Slater was quickly on the pace in session one of the day, posting a best lap of 1m40.654s to lead Fairclough by 0.1s, while Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre improved on his pace from Wednesday to sit third.

Macintyre led in session two, but he was pipped to top spot by Ninovic who lapped 0.3s quicker with a 1m40.963s. Fairclough ended up 0.5s adrift of Ninovic in third, and Slater denied Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari fourth by 0.08s.

Laptimes again were slower at the top in session three, with Slater’s 1m41.261s effort good enough to be quickest by 0.125s from Ninovic. Macintyre again appeared in the top three.

Making his first appearance for Argenti Motorsport with Prema on day two, Reza Seewooruthun was half a second off the session pace in fourth, with JHR Developments’ Kai Daryanani and Noah Lisle close behind him.

The final session proved to be quickest of the day – and GB3’s first official test with its new car. Ninovic lowered the pace to 1m40.520s approaching the halfway stage, and Slater soon bettered that time by 0.04s, but it was not enough to end up on top as Fairclough went fastest of all with 16 minutes remaining.

Al Azhari also improved in the final session to end the day 0.4s behind in fourth, while Macintyre was shuffled back to fifth having not bettered his session one time. Rodin’s Abbi Pulling was sixth ahead of Hillspeed’s Gianmarco Pradel and Seewooruthun, the trio all posting personal bests in session four.

Less than one second separated the top 11 drivers, with Lisle ninth ahead of Fluxa and Fortec Motorsports’ James Higgins.

Day two results

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Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Deagen Fairclough has earned himself a Formula 1 test with Aston Martin this year by winning the 2024 Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award.

The 18-year-old won the long-running award for young British drivers by beating FIA Formula 3 race-winner Arvid Lindblad, GB3 champion Louis Sharp and Italian Formula 4 dominator Freddie Slater in a two-day shootout test at Silverstone that took place in MotorSport Vision Formula 2 cars, a Ligier LMP3 prototype sportscar and an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

There were also fitness and simulator elements to the shootout for the four finalists, who were chosen from a longlist of 10, and in addition to the F1 test the prize for the winner included £200,000 and full British Racing Drivers’ Club membership.

Fairclough entered consideration for the award after romping to the British F4 title in 2024, winning 14 races, making the podium eight other times and claiming pole position 15 times. He also came seventh in F4 United Arab Emirates with Hitech GP, and will remain with the team as he steps up to GB3 this year.

“Honestly, this means so, so much. Thank you to every single person, my mum, my dad, my friends. Thank you to Silverstone for setting this up again, 35 years of it, and I hope to follow on in the footsteps of the rest of the winners,” were Fairclough’s first words after finding out he had won at the annual Autosport Awards on Wednesday night (January 29, 2025).

“I am speechless. It was a fantastic two days. Even if I didn’t win I learnt so much, and the other drivers made me put so much into it over the two days. It was weird having no phone, as I was worried about not getting up in time each morning!

“The faces I’ve seen in this building are inspirational. To test an F1 car at 18, not many get to do that, so it is incredible. I am sorry, I am ranting on a bit!”

The losing finalists still have much to look forward to this year. Red Bull junior Lindblad is currently dominating in Formula Regional Oceania, ahead of a step up to Formula 2, Slater is contending for the FRegional Middle East title and Sharp is stepping up to F3. Formula Scout spotted him deep in conservation with Williams team principal James Vowles at the Autosport Awards.

Additional reporting by Jacob Awcock

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Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography

With 14 wins, 22 podiums and 15 poles, Deagen Fairclough’s dominance of the 2024 British F4 season was unprecedented. The 18-year-old recalls to Formula Scout his pathway to success against the odds

Hailing from humble beginnings, Deagen Fairclough was an underdog during his time in karting, but he overcame financial constraints to rise up the ranks and hone his skills that have made him into the driver he is today.

“I started when I was five years old,” he recalls. “It was literally just me and my dad in karting. From five until I was 13 it was ‘lad and dad’. We’re a working class family and everyone knows how much of a struggle motorsport is. We were getting all the scraps from people, borrowing people’s spare engines to run in for them.

“It was an enjoyable one, we learned a lot because we didn’t have the money to buy the wet tyres in the earlier stages of racing. My mum and dad were so young when they had me so they were teenage parents. We’ve always been the underdog in most situations I feel, because [until now] we hadn’t really got any titles behind us.”

Fairclough took inspiration from the late Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who famously drove around on slick tyres in wet conditions at his local kart track in Sao Paulo as a child to develop his driving skills.

“Those years in karting helped, especially in the wet as it’s mainly raining every day here in the UK,” Fairclough notes. “We had to go on slicks in the wet and that was a struggle, but we were able to get some decent results. We were lucky enough to scrape some money together and find some wets and use them once and that was one of the best times I had in the wet.

“It’s always searching for the grip and that’s the hardest thing. You can tell a real driver in the wet from watching. Senna was incredible in the wet, he always wanted it to rain, so I always looked up to Senna and wanted to be like him. Driving on slicks on a damp circuit was quite difficult but it only makes you a better driver.

Fairclough began car racing in a Citroen Saxo, which is a Junior Saloon Car

As the financial struggles grew, Fairclough swapped karting for a simulator, something that would help change his career a couple of years later.

“We took a year out of karting because it was just getting a little bit too much for us and my parents couldn’t keep up with it,” he says. “We ended up selling all my karting gear and getting a simulator and that was the step towards cars and seeing how I was with the manual gearbox and getting an eye-in from that. We’ve had it since I was 13, so we’ve had my simulator for quite a while and I still use it to this day.”

His first taste of car racing came in 2020 after winning a scholarship to join the Junior Saloon Car Championship. At the wheel of a 1600cc Citroen Saxo, he amassed three podiums and finished sixth in the standings.

“I didn’t really expect I’d win [the scholarship],” Fairclough admits. “We were just going for the experience so when they were calling out the people in third, second and first I was really not thinking my name would be out there. We won that day, and that’s what got us into cars.”

He then stepped up to a two-litre Ford Fiesta in 2021, racinh in the BRSCC’s Fiesta Junior Championship. He quickly formed a fierce rivalry with eventual champion Jenson Brickley but, despite taking eight wins, 12 podiums and seven pole positions, Fairclough missed out on a chance to fight for the title due to a late-season protest, as he explains.

“It was a mega year. Because we entered the first round as a guest it stepped us back a little. We only had it verbally that we’d get to keep the points and then when it got to the end of the season they protested me when I had a healthy points lead and I lost 150 points, which was a bit of a shame.”

Fairclough won multiple times in Fiesta Junior, but missed out on the title

It was midway through his Fiesta Junior campaign that Fairclough secured backing from British Touring Car Championship team Ciceley Motorsport. He looked set to continue in tin-tops until he won an Esports competition which came with a fully-funded drive in British Formula 4, and suddenly a career in single-seaters went from being a dream to reality.

“My goal was getting into GT3, a factory team, or into touring cars,” he reveals. “Getting that backing from Ciceley Motorsport when I was in Fiestas, it felt like a dream come true when I first had that. One day I said to my mum and dad I would love to just try a single-seater out and they were like ‘yeah, jog on’ because they knew how expensive normal racing is, let alone open-wheel which is just another level of money because it’s on the route to F1. 

“We saw the huge ROKiT Racing Star competition, which I really didn’t believe was true when I saw it online: winning a fully-funded F4 seat. I put so much hard work into it, many hours on the sim, and was able to come away with that at the University of Bolton. I’m ever so grateful to ROKiT and Racing Star for setting that competition up otherwise I wouldn’t be here today. They’ve changed my life.”

Fairclough is still an avid sim racer, and like many drivers still uses Esports to help prepare for real-world events.

“I’ve just recently upgraded my equipment and I think it helps me massively pre-event,” he says. “It’s just mainly line-wise and getting your reference points before you go to a race circuit.

“If you can do a race run and stay consistent within two-tenths of your fastest lap time every 15, 20 laps, then that’s very good preparation because as soon as you turn up to the circuit you know where you’re braking, you know where you’re turning roughly, and that’s what helps me the most. 

Fairclough’s single-seater break came when he won the ROKiT Racing Star Esports competition

“When you can do races, like on iRacing, against friends and people around the world you gain that racecraft and experience, so I find it helps massively. It’s just another way of testing and it’s enjoyable at the same time.”

Driving for JHR Developments, Fairclough had a solid first year in British F4, taking four wins, seven podiums and third in the standings. But, with his future remaining uncertain, he admits mistakes came as a result of trying too hard to impress.

“We didn’t really know when we were at JHR what was happening this year, if that was going to be the end of it. I was on the edge, I was so eager to get results straight away and there were lots of mistakes that cost us a lot of points. We were still able to get third in the championship and I think Hitech saw potential in me and then took me onboard this year.”

His switch to Hitech GP for 2024 brought instant results, with a win and a second place at the Donington Park season-opener followed by two more wins on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout.

“They’ve helped me so much, there’s so much I’ve learned and so much I’ve taken onboard, ” he reveals. “It will only help me when I go up the ladder hopefully. It’s been very good. A very nice approach to our race weekends, a lot of training as well. Using the Hitech facilities has helped, and I’ve had amazing people in the team that have helped me mentally and as a driver.”

Round three at Snetterton proved to be the only one where Fairclough didn’t win, and he then experienced mixed fortunes at Thruxton where he won race one but retired from the race three lead with a mechanical failure.

“It’s one of those situations,” he muses. “Everyone is bound to have a mechanical fault, it was no one’s fault that weekend. You can only learn from it and take the positives away because we were leading by six seconds and the car was very nice to drive and we were setting consistent laptimes.”

Fairclough took a record number of wins en-route to the British F4 crown in 2024

A win and another retirement followed at Silverstone’s Grand Prix layout, as the season reached its halfway point. But he was unstoppable thereon, winning nine times, only missing the podium three times and being crowned with five races to spare.

“To be honest, everything has just come along as a bonus really,” Fairclough reflects on his dominant season. “I’ve put a lot of hard work into it. The win record, the podium record, there’s so many records we’ve set this year. It doesn’t feel real if I’m honest. The team has been working so hard all season and it wouldn’t have been possible without them. I’m ever so grateful to everyone that’s helped me to get that achievement, and look forward to what we can do next year.”

Fairclough still had some driving left to do before switching his focus to 2025, having made the final four of this year’s Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award. He joined three other finalists in October at Silverstone, where each drove a MotorSport Vision Formula 2 car, a Ligier LMP3 prototype sportscar and an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The winner will be announced at the beginning of next year, with a £200,000 cheque and a test drive in an Aston Martin F1 car among the prizes.

Fairclough is following in the footsteps of British F4 champions before him by making the step up to GB3 with Hitech next season, with the introduction of a new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 and a growing international calendar both appealing to him.

“GB3 is an ideal situation, they’re bringing out the new car and we can learn a lot from that because it’s not going to be too far off a Formula 3 car. In FIA F3 you need to be fully prepared and go straight for the championship, so getting that year behind us in GB3 and going around places around Europe I think will help massively.”

The post How Deagen Fairclough went from junior saloons to British F4 dominator appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Dominant British Formula 4 champion Deagen Fairclough will step up with Hitech GP to GB3 for next season.

Fairclough got his single-seater break through winning the ROKiT-backed Racing Star esports competition and finished third in his rookie British F4 campaign in 2023 driving with JHR Developments.

He moved across to Hitech for 2024 and took a record-breaking 14 wins as he wrapped up the title with five races to spare.

“I’m thrilled to be taking the next step in my single-seater career,” said Fairclough. “2024 has been an incredible season, one I’ll never forget. To win the British F4 drivers’ title, and set a new record, is a dream come true.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of firstly ROKiT and its Racing Star programme and now Hitech, who have prepared a fantastic car all season and provided the environment for me to be able to perform and develop,” he continued. “I’m proud that our success in the Drivers’ Cup helped them win the Teams’ Cup too.

“I can’t thank ROKiT and Hitech enough for the journey so far and their support for me as I step up to GB3. I look forward to rewarding their faith in me on the racetrack.”

ROKiT will continue backing Fairclough next year, when it says it will also launch a new competition to bring talent from sim racing to the racetrack.

“Deagen’s achievements in his nascent single-seater career cannot be underestimated,” said Hitech’s GB3 team manager Phil Blow. “His performances in British F4 this season have been metronomic and he staked his claim on the title in the first couple of rounds. His results and consistency also played a hugely significant role in helping Hitech secure the Teams’ Cup.

“It has been exciting for us to see Deagen’s progression within the team, and his step up to the GB3 Championship is very well deserved. We look forward to the impact he will make on the next rung of the ladder and in what I’m sure will be a long and successful career ahead.”

The post Deagen Fairclough steps up to GB3 with Hitech for 2025 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Deagen Fairclough won a disrupted final race of the 2024 British Formula 4 championship at Brands Hatch.

Wet conditions led to multiple offs on the opening lap, prompting a red flag and a restart. Later, another incident prompted a lengthy safety car period, leaving a three minute dash to the flag.

Despite the shortened end to the race, Fairclough finished more than four seconds clear of the rest of the field as he took the chequered flag for the 14th and final time this season.

The field initially started the race on slick tyres, but a shower began just before the start of the race. Most of the field didn’t make it around the first lap before the red flag was thrown. James Higgins and Bart Harrison had gone off at Paddock Hill Bend, with Higgins becoming trapped in the gravel. Further around, Alex Ninovic was one of many drivers to run wide at Surtees, and Rowan Campbell-Pilling later spun.

The race was red flagged and the field came into the pits, with most drivers then switching to wet weather tyres. Despite causing the red flag, Higgins was allowed to take to the grid for the restart.

The second start went much cleaner than the first and the top three drivers managed to break free from the rest of the field. Fairclough, Leo Robinson, and Reza Seewoorutun were initially nose to tail. Robinson and Seewooruthun could not keep pace with Fairclough, who escaped down the road.

Fairclough had a gap of over four seconds when the safety car was brought out for an off for Yuhao Fu and August Raber.

The champion-elect made a great restart when racing resumed with less than three minutes on the clock, leaving Robinson and Seewooruthun behind to battle for second. He was was 4.445s clear at the chequered flag.

Behind, it was Ninovic challenging for second. Ninovic had made a good start off the line the first time, but couldn’t repeat this the second time around. Instead, he was locked in a battle with Harrison for fourth. Harrison soon became distracted by Higgins behind, leaving Ninovic to close the gap to the top three. 

After the safety car period, he again came under attack from Harrison, but a wide moment for Harrison took him out of contention. Ninovic found a way past Seewooruthun and kept the pressure on Robinson, but had to settle for third.

Seewooruthun took fourth ahead of James Higgins, who beat him to third in the championship standings by just half a point.

Kai Daryanani finished sixth, followed by Yuanpu Cui, Abbi Pulling and Ella Lloyd. Thomas Bearman completed the top 10.

Race result (10 laps)

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