The Silverstone-based Hitech Bullfrog GP outfit will field four cars this weekend at Silverstone as the highly-rated sixteen-year-old Macanese driver Charles Leong joins the line-up.
Leong joins Enaam Ahmed, Alex Palou and Ben Hingeley in the team for round six of the 2018 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season and is looking to make an immediate impression in the championship, although his main focus this season is on the recently-launched FIA F3 Asian Championship, which he competes with the sister Hitech Dragon GP outfit.
“Racing in the FIA F3 European Championship at Silverstone will be a new step for me – it’s going to be a whole new experience,” said Leong. “I’m very happy to race with Hitech Bullfrog GP, and I believe the team will bring me up to a new level.”
Leong took two podium finishes in his opening weekend of the F3 Asian Championship and currently sits third in the championship behind Jake Hughes and Raoul Hyman but has already had success on his way into Formula 3, winning the Asian Formula Renault Championship and FIA Formula 4 China titles last year.
Hitech Team Principal, Oliver Oakes, is confident that Leong can impress straight away in the European series having made such a strong start in Asia, although Silverstone will be a new venue to the teenager.
“We are really happy to have Charles competing for us at our home-race,” said Oakes. “His proven ability in the first round of the FIA F3 Asian Championship gives us the confidence that he will have a great run out in the car.”
The Carlin Motorsport team are still hoping to return to six cars this weekend, with the seat vacated by Devlin DeFrancesco following his move to the GP3 Series still vacant. But with Leong in the field and following the recent addition of Sophia Flörsch at Van Amersfoort Racing, there are twenty-five cars in the field this weekend, even without Carlin’s sixth car.
