US F4 champion Hunter Yeany set for British F3 debut at Spa

There will be a third Fortec Motorsport car on the grid as the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship arrives at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the fourth round of the season (23-25 July).

Reigning US Formula 4 champion Hunter Yeany will partner Roberto Faria and Mikkel Grundtvig, both of whom took podiums at Donington Park last time out, including a maiden F3 win for Grundtvig.

He will take the place of Oliver Bearman, who is on course to become the first-ever driver to win the Italian F4 and ADAC F4 Championships in the same season. Bearman made his British F3 debut at Brands Hatch in May, taking second-place finishes in the first two races.

The 16-year-old took the US F4 title in 2020 with seven wins and 13 total podiums, before moving to a joint campaign in Formula Regional Americas and Indy Pro 2000, the latter being on INDYCAR‘s ‘Road to Indy’ feeder programme.

Incumbent British F3 champion Kaylen Frederick took four podiums and two pole positions in the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 series, a step below Indy Pro 2000.

Yeany has scored points in every round but one so far in Formula Regional with Velocity Racing Development, sitting tenth after 12 rounds, while he is 14th in Indy Pro 2000.

Fortec Team Manager, Oliver Dutton, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Hunter to our British F3 team for Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.

“He’s a great talent, with a really good attitude and a real drive to do well, so I’m sure our focus on driver development will suit him down to the ground.

“We’ve had a really good run of form recently, and Hunter arrives with an exceptional CV back home in the States.

“I think all the ingredients are there for this to be a very positive partnership.”

Yeany added, “I’m super excited to make my debut in Europe.

“It’s been delayed with COVID restrictions, but I can’t thank Fortec enough for giving me the opportunity to race a Formula 3 car at Spa.

“Fortec is highly-regarded and I’m looking forward to working with the whole team to make sure we hit the ground running and put our best foot forward from the very start.”

Ahead of the triple-header in the Ardennes Forest which marks the halfway point of the season, Fortec sit fourth in the inaugural Teams’ Championship, between British F3 debutants Arden Motorsport and Elite Motorsport.