Danish driver Nicolai Kjaergaard will return to the BRDC British F3 Championship in 2018. The 18-year-old will move to defending teams and drivers champions Carlin, becoming the teams second signing.
Kjaergaard has been in racing the last two years in the UK has been a low-key figure within the national paddock, though will look to make a larger impact this season, joining one of the series top teams.
Making his debut in the F4 British Championship in 2016, Kjaergaard was a consistent points scorer, with a best result of fourth at Snetterton, finishing the series thirteenth overall. His connections with the Fortec Motorsport line-up soon saw him progress to their F3 team, with a fifth place finish in the opening round.
Like the year previous, he had been largely overshadowed by his teammate, with Ben Hingeley finishing third overall, while Kjaergaard proved himself to be one of the strongest midfield drivers, ending the series tenth overall.
“I definitely feel excited to be joining Carlin,” Kjaergaard started. “The team won the championship last year, in fact finished first and second, so hopefully I can go out and be a challenger for the championship this year, this is the goal for me and the team.”
“I feel like it’s a step up in terms of expectations both from myself and the people around me. Testing so far has been good and the guys in the team have been great; very helpful and have made me feel really welcome so it’s been easy for me to settle in and focus on performance.”
He returns this year, currently as the highest placed driver from 2017 to do so.
Trevor Carlin, team director added: “Nicolai has already been testing with the team and is going be a strong addition with his knowledge base following a season in the Championship already. We’re looking ahead to testing resuming with him, so we can start the season well together ahead of the first round at the end of March at Oulton Park.”
The move raises questions for other drivers. Of the three seats available, Kjaergaard is the first official announcement, with Sun Yue Yang all but confirmed by TCF last month, though the team has not followed up.
Billy Monger was testing for the outfit on Tuesday and is suspected to fill the third seat, effectively closing the door for Jamie Caroline and Patrik Pasma who were strong candidates to move up after Carlin closed their F4 operations.
