Jann Mardenborough is closing in on the ultimate target for most any aspiring racing driver, he now has a clear path under his feet that leads straight to an F1 racing seat for the first time.
He is starting with GP3 for the 2014 season, where he’ll be joining Arden International owned by Red Bull Racing’s Team Principal in F1, Christian Horner. MW Arden has won the last two drivers’ championship in GP3 so Jann is likely in a good position for the chance to impress with his first year in the extremely competitive field.
“I feel ready for GP3,” said Mardenborough.
“I’ve prepared well and I have all the right people around me to help my development, so I can fully focus on my racing. I haven’t raced the GP3 car yet but, going on initial testing, I prefer the GP3 car to an F3 car. The power is very addictive! This season is my opportunity to impress more people in the sport who make the decisions on who makes it into F1 and who doesn’t and I’m going to give it my best shot.”
The 2011 British GT Academy Winner has worked hard for the opportunity, putting in excellent drives in Formula 3, the Toyota Racing Series, and testing much more powerful GP3 and World Series by Renault machinery, to name his single-seater experience alone. He has showcased raw talent with his performances matching much more seasoned up and coming drivers.
Now Red Bull’s taken an interest in developing a driver from a new perspective, with a custom program meant to truly take advantage of Jann’s unique background and skill set. They want to keep a close eye on how Jann works with his engineer at Arden for the GP3 season and how he utilizes time in the simulator, where he will be training a lot this year.
“They were really interested in me because of where I have come from and the PlayStation side of things so they were quite interested in my thoughts on their simulator. We are going to be working quite closely together throughout the season and it will help me learn the new tracks like Russia and the Hungaroring that I haven’t been to before and get me ready for GP3.”
The project is separate from the famous Red Bull Junior, or “Young Driver,” program which launched drivers such as Sebastien Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo. Red Bull Racing’s driver development manager Andy Damerum talks about his impression of GT Academy.
“We have been tracking Nissan’s innovative approach to motorsport and in particular GT Academy that challenges the status quo of motorsport. The traditional route to F1 of karting and single-seaters is a tried-and-tested success but Nissan and PlayStation have gone down a very different road and started to find some very talented drivers who have been doing all their practicing on a games console. I’m very interested to see how Jann fares on our programme and in GP3 this season and I look forward to taking him under the Infiniti Red Bull Racing wing to further progress his career. ”
One of Jann’s original mentors from GT Academy, former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, comments on Jann’s progress.
“I have been mightily impressed with what Jann has achieved since winning GT Academy. For someone with Jann’s experience doing so well is very rare to see. Last year he raced in the European F3 series which is hell of a tough challenge during your first season; the fact that it was Jann’s first season in any kind of single-seaters is incredible.
Whilst he has had a very successful first year in GT racing and he has now got an amazing result at Le Mans 24 Hours under his belt, he is competing against drivers that have grown up with seasons of karting and single-seater experience behind them. His talent has not only impressed me, but has now got experienced figureheads in motorsport talking about what Jann, Nissan and GT Academy are achieving.
The world of motorsport is recognising that GT Academy is helping bring talented young blood into the sport. The success of Jann and other GT Academy winners is also inspiring a new legion of gaming and motorsport fans by giving them a new route to becoming a professional racing driver. The only question that remains unanswered is ‘Can a gamer make it all the way to F1?”
Jann will be teamed with GP3 race-winners Robert Visoiu and Patric Niederhauser for this season. In 2013 he finished sixth in British F3, 21st in the European championship and completed the 2014 Toyota Racing Series as runner-up to Andrew Tang.
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