F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA Prepares for China Debut

Ningbo, China (August 28, 2018) ??The new?F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA will make its China debut this weekend, with the second round of the inaugural season to be held at the 4.015km Ningbo International Speedway. The fight for the 2018 title will resume over three races, with a number of new faces joining the international field of fledgling talent.?

The series? first appearance in China represents a valuable opportunity to showcase the new era of F3 in a country with a burgeoning FIA F4 Chinese Championship, alongside which the F3 Asian Championship will run this weekend.

With points leader Jakes Hughes on GP3 duty at Monza over the weekend, 21-year-old Briton Ben Hingeley steps up at Hitech Dragon GP. Third in the 2017 BRDC British F3 Championship, this year Hingley is contesting the FIA F3 European Championship. In China, Hingley joins Hitech Dragon GP team mates Raoul Hyman, second on the leaderboard after three races, and Macau?s Charles Leong, currently third.

The Absolute Racing duo of Malaysian Akash Nandy, second in the final race in Malaysia last month, and American Jaden Conwright will be on the hunt for more points having made a strong start to their championship debut at Sepang. Conwright is tied in fifth with fellow American Chase Owen, another driver to watch out for as the field takes to China?s newest race track for the first of two visits this season. Owen?s team mate in the opening rounds, James Yu of China, made enormous strides in Malaysia finishing fifth in race three, and switches to ZEN Motorsport for the Round 2. Joining Yu on the team is fellow countryman Yin Hai Tao, second in the Masters class.

Super License driver Tomoki Takahashi of Japan currently leads Kenyan Jeremy Wahome of SVC Asia in the points, and is joined by team mate Takashi Hata, Masters category leader after three consecutive class wins in Malaysia.

New team Emc2 Racing joins the series with Chinese driver Liu Zexuan. An experienced competitor currently competing in Asian Formula Renault and the China GT Championship in GT4, last season Liu contested both the Asian Formula Masters Series and the FIA F4 Chinese Championship.

BlackArts Racing?s Louis Prette took a trio of top 10 finishes in Sepang, while India?s Akash Gowda of M-Sport Asia will be looking to improve his pace while maintaining his consistency.

The anti-clockwise Ningbo International Speedway was completed in October 2017, and is an FIA Grade 2 listed track with 22 turns.

The weekend officially gets underway with a free practice session on the morning of Friday, August 31, followed by two qualifying sessions from 13:15 local time (GMT+8). 

All three races will be live-steamed on the official website (www.f3asia.com) and Facebook page @F3AsianChampionship:

Saturday, September 1
11:15   Race 1
16:15   Race 2

Sunday, September 2
11:30   Race 3

F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA
Provisional Entry List ? Rounds 4-6