Carlin Buzz Racing Driver Kaylen Frederick will miss the up and coming FIA Formula 3 round at Spa-Francorchamps with Carlin choosing not to replace the driver and instead only running the two cars of Jonny Edgar and Ido Cohen instead of the usual three.
It has been an incredibly unlucky season for the American driver who missed the last round in Budapest after undergoing surgery after a large piece of bone was pulled off the metacarpal following an injury to his UCL ligament at the Austrian round. After working so hard to make it back in time for the Spa – a circuit which the drivers look forward to driving round it is a huge disappointment to have tested positive and the American is understandably devastated.
Kaylen Frederick is understandably heartbroken having to miss two rounds in a row in what was already a very short season in terms of rounds, the thought of racing at a circuit like Spa had accelerated his recovery so to have now tested positive is agonizing after how excited he had been.
“I’m absolutely heartbroken, aside from being painful, the injury in Austria was such a blow as it meant I would miss Hungary. Thinking about being back for Spa really helped push me through the surgery and physio, all of which was designed to accelerate my recovery. To now have tested positive for COVID-19 is just agonizing.“
Most importantly the American is not feeling too bad, with the young driver conceding how frustrating it will be to just be sitting at home watching all of his colleagues battling it out wheel to wheel.
“I don’t feel too bad, so I’ll just be sitting at home, but it will be awful to see everyone out in Spa without me.”
Team boss Trevor Carlin added how disappointed he was on a personal level for Frederick with the Briton being impressed with how hard the American had been working on his recovery.
“This is such a blow for Kaylen. He has been working so hard on making sure he was fit and healthy for this weekend in Spa, having already missed one race weekend.”
As soon as Frederick has recovered and tested negative it will be looking forward and preparing for the Zandvoort round of the championship, Carlin also adds his best wishes to his young driver and will be hoping that the American arrives back motivated and ready to take home some good points for the team.
“As soon as we are able to do so, we will start preparing with him on the sim and making sure he is in the best possible shape for Zandvoort. I know how desperate he is to get back in the car and we wish him a speedy recovery.”