Weston Hills race ace Johnathan Hoggard showed what he was capable of in post-season FIA Formula 3 testing last week.
Returning drivers dominated the top ten positions in testing at Barcelona, though there was space for a couple of debutants – with Hoggard impressing at Jenzer Motorsport on day two in Spain.
The South Holland racer is one of many youngsters bidding for a F3 seat in 2021 and did his prospects no harm at all in the first of two post-season tests, finishing fifth overall on day two.
His highlight came in the final session of the meeting, when he topped the timesheet by 0.343secs.
Speaking to fiaformula3.com, Hoggard said: “It has been a really good couple of days. I learned lots on day one, especially in terms of the tyres and how the track surface works.
“I was able to put that into practice on day two when I went P5 in the morning session when the track was cold and at its fastest.”
The 2019 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the year is looking to make up for lost time, having missed out on a full-time drive in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 19-year-old used the two days to learn and soak up plenty of information while also showing Jenzer what he can do in the car.
“In the afternoon, I managed to go P1 in the times,” he continued. “It was about making sure we got the most out of the tyres.
“The track was really warm, so it was quite a struggle to get the rear tyres to stay working. They tend to go off quite a lot.
“In the race run as well, it was quite difficult to make sure the tyres kept their grip and were good throughout the run. Overall, I am really happy.”
Hoggard was quickest in the afternoon session of the second and final day, clocking 1.33.759mins to top the session for Jenzer Motorsport.
His time was, however, almost 1.8 seconds slower than his 2019 BRDC British F3 title rival Clement Novalak’s benchmark from the morning session.
Roman Stanek was second quickest in the afternoon for Prema, but over three tenths slower than Hoggard’s best effort. The top three was rounded out by Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger in the sister Prema-run machine.
Matteo Nannini topped the opening morning of testing at Barcelona for Campos Racing, with HWA Racelab returnee Jake Hughes second. Hoggard was 0.926secs down on Nannini in 13th place.
Red Bull junior Jack Doohan was quickest in the afternoon session on the first day, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams second by just 0.002secs and Hauger completing the top three.
Hoggard was one second off the pace this time, down in 18th place.
Novalak led a Trident one-two on the second morning, with his best effort of a 1.31.989mins just pipping team-mate Jack Doohan.
Italian teenager Nannini completed the top three, with Hoggard (1.32.328mins) up in fifth this time.
FIA F3 will return for its second and final post-season test at Jerez on October 27-28 and Hoggard will be aiming to impress again.
