Deagen Fairclough heads into the GB3 Championship off the back of sensational 12 months, which has seen him dominate British F4, and claim the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
The British youngster is therefore regarded as a prodigious rising star, especially after winning almost 50 per-cent of the races on offer last year, with his GB3 prospects aided further by remaining with the Hitech team he clinched the F4 title with last year.
Despite this, he’s heading into his new challenge with a level head, with plenty of learning to come between now and the start of the season in April.
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself to be honest,” he commented at last week’s Donington Park test day. “Yes, we’ve come off a fantastic season in British F4 and if we can repeat that in GB3 this year, then that would be phenomenal really. It comes as a bonus, we’re just targeting for the championship win and if we can break some records along the way then that’ll be a huge bonus!
“I’ve put all my faith into them [Hitech] and they’ve put their faith in me to go out there and provide good feedback. But everyone knows Hitech is such a fantastic team and everyone in it works so hard. Obviously they’re in F3 and F2 so there’s the help from those guys with this new car.
“It’s looking quite promising, I don’t want to jinx anything at the moment, but you just have to take it with a pinch of salt in this pre-season testing until we actually get to qualifying at Silverstone.”
The arrival of the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car means that each team will have a major reset ahead of the campaign, as they get to know the new machinery, something Fairclough admits could change the pecking order.
“It looks like it’s going to be a strong year, obviously with the new car everyone’s at a more level playing field. Everyone’s going to be quite equal and it’ll be interesting at the first round at Silverstone.”
The West Sussex resident began his career in Junior Saloons and then the Ford Fiesta Championship before moving into single-seaters after winning the ROKiT Racing Star sim competition in 2022. He admits GB3 is a massive climb from that point.
“It’s a huge step up, Fiestas around here, I look back at it and they are actually really slow compared to this! I’m driving the GB3 and now I’m overtaking F4s which I thought was fast when I first stepped into F4, but you end up getting so used to it really quickly as a driver and it’s such a good feeling. That adrenaline feeling, that’s the best bit about motorsport in my opinion.”
As for adrenaline, Fairclough has an F1 test with Aston Martin to look forward to following his award success, a day he cannot wait for.
“The Young Driver Award, was crazy, I literally can’t believe it. I’m still over the moon to this day and I think it will finally sink in when we actually have that F1 test, and when my neck is struggling to hold up!
“I’m really looking forward to it, honestly it’s a dream that I’ve dreamt of since I was five years old as a kid watching Lewis Hamilton on the TV when he was with McLaren. I think it’s everyone’s dream to drive an F1 car and I’m very fortunate to have that day coming up.
“I’m going to train really hard for it. But even just the support I’ve had my whole career, my mum and dad, ROKiT for setting that sim competition up, who knows where I’d be today without them. And there’s a lot of people also in Fiestas that have helped me, just to progress as a driver, everyone at Hitech, Oli Oakes. I’m really fortunate and very lucky to have such fantastic people helping me achieve my goal.”
As for targets, he’s got his eyes on following Luke Browning and Louis Sharp in winning both the British F4 and GB3 titles in quick succession.
“The championship win, it’s make or break really. I really want to get onto that FIA step as I am currently 18. I know that age isn’t a big factor in this part of my career at the moment but I want to get up to F1 as quickly as possible.”