British star Johnathan Hoggard has had a stellar two seasons, finishing third in British F4 before moving up to Formula 3 and finishing second in his debut season of the British Championship. He also won the Aston Martin Autosport Driver of the Year and the Sumoco Whelen Challenge, which gave him the opportunity to compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. We caught up with him at Autosport International for his thoughts on the last twelve months and the year ahead.

By Adam Dickinson

How do you reflect on last year?

I think last year went a lot better than I expected, I think it’s a bit of a shame to miss out on the championship but Clement did a really good job so he definitely deserves it. I think it’s a good achievement to have both the Aston Martin Autosport award and then also the Sunoco Whelen Challenge. I wasn’t really expecting those two so it’s definitely a really good way to end the season.

How much confidence do you take from the fact that you were able to step up in one season from F4 to F3 and do so well?

Yeah so I think I did a couple of tests before we committed to the championship, in 2018, towards the end of the year. I sort of had an immediate feeling that I was quite comfortable in the car, I think I quite like the more downforce and a bit more power so it wasn’t too much of an issue stepping up, it was just getting used to that car on the different circuits.

Looking ahead to next year you’ve not announced anything yet, what options are you looking at?

We’ve got a few GT options and then also single-seater options as well, so it’s sort of looking at what’s best for my career now, so we’ll have to see what is best and lay all the options on the table and choose the correct one.

Is looking at what’s best to get you to F1?

Yeah, my dream would be to be in Formula 1 but I think the sort of realistic dream would be to become a professional, paid racing driver so it’s whichever of those two is best suited really.

You had some experience on the oval at Daytona, does oval-racing that appeal to you?

It was a little bit frustrating at the Roar, we had a few technical issues which cost us quite a bit of running time so we only got about seven laps. I think I did really enjoy the track when I was out there, I think the banking’s really really impressive. It’s quite intimidating when you first get into the track and it’s almost like a vertical wall, once you’re on there it’s not too bad. I wouldn’t discount any type of racing to be honest, I think the American scene is really quite special and the paddock was really amazing as well.

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