Netherlands sole British Formula 3 competitor, Bart Hylkema, will be making the move the series’ Championship Class this weekend with his T-Sport squad.
The 21-year-old Hylkema has been battling with Kotaro Sakurai this season in the Rookie Class, taking eleven wins from fifteen races, earning a 55 point lead following the last round at the Nurburgring.
As part of his move, Hylkema will drive a Dallara F311 chassis in anger for the first time and take a Volkswagen engine. While Hylkema’s Mugen-Honda powered machine has often trailed the Championship Class runner, the Dutchman has clung on to the rear of the main pack in several races, nearly beating Hitech Racing substitute Max Snegirev at Brands Hatch last month.
Indeed, the T-Sport pilot has been very excited about the prospect and challenge:
“I’ve wanted to do this for a little while now and after discussing it with my family, manager, my sponsors and the team, we’re all agreed this is the perfect time to make the move and I want to thank them very much for making this possible.
It really is a very exciting step and one I’m sure will be the right decision. “
He added:
“It really is a very exciting step and one I’m sure will be the right decision. There are 15 races left this year so we have plenty of time to work on understanding the A-class car and how to get the most from it. It would have been nice to go on and, hopefully, to win the Rookie Class title but this step is much better for my development as a driver and much more important for my career as a whole.
Since the start of the season I’ve learned a lot and I feel this is the right time to take that knowledge and move things up a level. If you want to be the best you can, you have to race the best.”
Hylkema’s first challenge in the Championship Class comes at this weekend’s round at Paul Ricard in Southern France.
