French talent Tristan Charpentier has become the most recent driver signing for the BRDC British F3 Championship. The 17-year-old made two appearances last year and will now race for Fortec Motorsports.
Charpentier will be no stranger to the UK scene having driven for Chris Dittmann Racing during the opening round at Oulton Park as well as at Spa-Francorchamps in 2017. Prior to that he had made his debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2015, racing at Brands Hatch Indy and Donington Park.
Between occasional races in Britain though, he’s seen success on the continent, finishing fifth in the 2016 French F4 Championship, which included a win at the Le Mans circuit. Other than a one-off appearance in the SMP F4 NEZ Championship and his F3 weekends, he’s done little racing since then though and will hope to spend 2018 getting back up to speed.
“I am very happy to join the Fortec family this year. I got on very well with the team when we tested at the beginning of the year and I think we can get some great results this year.” said Charpentier.
He will join Manuel Maldonado at Fortec, who was announced earlier this week. He becomes the thirteenth driver to confirm plans for this season with more expected as the series prepares for its launch at Media Day on 8th March.
Fortec Motorsports Team Manager Russ Dixon said: “We’re really pleased to confirm Tristan in our British F3 team for 2018. He delivered some very strong results in his races in the championship last year, and with his single-seater experience and our track record of taking drivers to the next level, we’re confident that he will be running near the front this year.”
