USA F4 front-runner Benjamin Pedersen will compete in the 2019 BRDC British F3 Championship with the Douglas Motorsport team.
The Danish-American makes the move to British F3 after several strong years in single-seaters in the USA, including three campaigns in the Formula 4 United States Championship and selected races in last year’s F3 Americas Championship.
Pedersen, aged 19, made his single-seater debut in 2016, taking a podium in his first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and securing a top-10 finish in the championship standings.
He was runner-up in the FIA standings in his second season in 2017, taking three wins and a total of six podiums throughout the year, including an impressive double triumph in front of the F1 paddock at the Circuit of the Americas.
With two full seasons under his belt, Pedersen returned to the F4 series in 2018, securing two more wins and 4 podiums in the 30+ car field, but also combined his efforts with four rounds of the 2018 F3 Americas Championship, securing 10 podiums from the 11 races in which he competed and finishing third in the championship standings. He finished his season with another impressive showing at the United States Grand Prix event, taking two second places in F3, and challenging for victory in F4 on the same weekend.
Looking ahead to his British F3 debut at Oulton Park on 20-22 April, Pedersen commented: “I can’t wait to make my race debut in the United Kingdom. I’ve secured good results in my open wheel career so far, but Europe was always going to be the next step and Britain has always had the strongest competition, so I’m looking forward to getting out there competing for the championship.”
Team Principal Wayne Douglas added: “We’re really pleased to add Benjamin to our line-up for this year’s BRDC British F3 Championship. He’s got plenty of experience already in single-seaters and showed last year that he can adapt quickly to F3 machinery. We’re really looking forward to working with him and are very confident that he will deliver some great results this year.”
Pedersen’s move to the 2019 BRDC British F3 Championship also introduces a new partnership between Douglas Motorsport and Global Racing Group, which develops and runs one of the premium development programs for young drivers through F4 and F3 in the US. The newly-forged relationship will help young, talented drivers in the US progress to a career in single-seaters.
