Brazilian star Guilherme Samaia has become the third and final driver in the Double R Racing team for the 2017 BRDC British F3 championship. The 20-year-old joins the series after spending the last two seasons in Formula 3 Brazil.
Samaia made his debut in the BRDC F3 car just over a week ago when he made an appearance during the BRDC F3 media day at Snetterton. He set a best time of 1min 45.913 putting him 2.3 seconds off the fastest time and fifteenth out of sixteenth in the standings.
Samaia said; “I’m really happy to have joined Double R Racing. They are not only champions, they are truly motivated to keep pushing as I am. I feel I have been taken into the family with a warm welcome and have 100% trust in the team as they worked last year with my coach Danilo Dirani, who then coached last year’s champion Matheus Leist.”
Samaia won his national F3’s Class B, back in 2015 moving up to the premier category last year. There he won three overall races, while also collecting victory in the opening race of the 2017 series. Leist meanwhile finished runner-up in Class B during 2014, before moving to Europe.
“I used to, and still am at the moment, race in Brazil with the Dallara F308 car and now I face an entirely new challenge with the British F3 car.
“I have quite a lot to learn, it’s my first time in Europe and the tracks, the car and climate are all new to me. The team is helping me to adapt fast, due to my late arrival in the UK at the end of March, and I’m confident we will be strong.”
Anthony Hieatt, team principal of Double R Racing, commented: “We’re delighted to have completed a deal with Guilherme to join the team, he did a good job at the Media Day test and he’s more than proven his ability in Brazil.
“He’s been brought over to the UK by Danilo Dirani, who we obviously know very well indeed and have worked with a long time, and we’re all quietly confident Guilherme will make strong progress with Double R.”
He joins Jamie Chadwick and Harry Hayek at the Double R team, with the opening round at Oulton Park kicking off this weekend.
Charpentier Joins Chris Dittmann Racing
Elsewhere, rising star Tristan Charpentier completes the line-up for Chris Dittmann Racing team. The 16-year-old will only compete for part of the season due to commitments in Europe.
The young star competed in the French F4 Championship last year in the series 1600cc Formula Renault machines. During his debut in the category, he picked up one race win, five further podiums and fifth in the overall standings. He finished as the highest ranking French driver.
Alongside British F3, Charpenteir will also be gunning for the title in the NEZ SMP F4 Championship. This won’t be his first trip to the UK though, having also competed in a few rounds of the Ginetta Junior championship.
Charpentier said: “I’m very excited to be racing with Chris Dittmann Racing for the first round of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship at Oulton Park.
“It’s going to be a big step up for me, as I’m currently also racing in the SMP Formula 4 Championship. The British F3 car will be totally new to me, and I’m really looking forward to working with Chris and the team to learn, progress, and achieve the best results possible.”