Hitech shows strong pace and progress at Red Bull Ring
Round 4 - Red Bull Ring - Report
Hitech experienced a challenging but ultimately encouraging weekend at the Red Bull Ring in the GB3 Championship, with the team showing strong pace across the three races and continuing to see progress from its three-car line-up.
Deagen Fairclough was a front-running contender in Race 1, securing a podium finish on the road before a post-race penalty dropped him to fourth in the amended classification. The British driver also showed strong pace in Race 2, while Jacob Micallef continued his impressive adaptation to GB3 in only his second round of the championship.
Felix Fu also made further progress throughout the weekend, ending the final race with a strong recovery drive to underline his continued development.
Race 1
Deagen produced a strong opening race at the Red Bull Ring, running at the front of the field and crossing the line in third place. A post-race one-position penalty for a restart infringement dropped him to fourth in the amended results.
Jacob continued his strong start to GB3 life, finishing 11th, while Felix completed the race in 15th.
Race 2
Deagen again showed competitive pace in Race 2, making progress from his starting position and finishing sixth on the road. However, a track limits penalty dropped him to 17th in the final classification.
Jacob also delivered a strong drive, taking the chequered flag 11th before a similar penalty moved him to 18th. Felix finished 15th in a tightly contested race in Spielberg.
Race 3
Race 3 proved frustrating for Deagen after he was unable to get away from the grid at the start and was pushed into the pit lane. The issue resulted in an extra formation lap and a shortened 22-minute race distance, before a Safety Car was deployed shortly after the start following an incident involving two other cars. Deagen was unable to continue.
Starting from 19th, Jacob produced an impressive recovery drive to finish tenth, continuing his excellent progress in only his second GB3 weekend.
Felix also ended the weekend on a positive note, gaining six positions from his starting place to finish 12th.
Phil Blow, Hitech’s GB3 Team Manager:
“We leave the Red Bull Ring with plenty of positives. Deagen showed strong pace in Race 1 and Race 2, and it was frustrating not to convert that into stronger results.”
“Jacob has adapted incredibly quickly to GB3 and a top-ten finish in Race 3 is a great achievement in only his second round. Felix also continued to make progress throughout the weekend, and his final race performance was a positive way to finish.”
Phil continued:
“Despite the setbacks, there are plenty of encouraging signs to take forward and we’ll continue to build on this momentum at the next round at Silverstone.”
