Bart Horsten has opened up about his struggles to secure a race seat in F3 for the 2022 season.
Horsten who hails from Sydney has spent the last two seasons racing in GB3 (British F3 in 2020) where he finished 10th in his rookie campaign in 2020, before improving to sixth last season with two pole positions and four fastest laps.
The Australian also previously drove in Australian Formula Ford and British F4, of which he claimed one race victory in the latter series.
A move to FIA F3 therefore is the next step of ‘logical progression’ for Horsten who had spent the off-season having conversations with various contacts, as he chased a range of sponsorship deals to strengthen his racing budget for this season.
Horsten added that the biggest lesson from that experience will be “… creating the perfect offering for each party and building an authentic relationship is what works best.”
A move up to F3 however is looking unlikely following ‘a lot of interest and many discussions’ with the 19 year-old feeling that graduating to F3 at present looks “… a step too far, which is a shame, as I feel I can be really competitive in that field and that European tracks will be more suited to my driving style.”
Horsten though is optimistic about his plans for this season as he explained: “In the absence of this I am looking at other opportunities for a drive, whether it’s in GTs, Prototypes or another single seater series. I just really hope that I can be racing this year.”
One positive though is that most championships aren’t set to get underway until early Spring so Horsten is holding hope that there will be “late opportunities” if other drivers encounter sudden racing budget issues during pre-season.
During the off-season, Horsten also got behind the wheel in three individual testing opportunities as he tested the Praga R1, Porsche 911 922 Cup Car and EuroFormula’s Dallara 320 at three different venues across the UK.
Horsten also spoke of his current plans at present as he continued: “In the meantime I am keeping busy training hard, using my simulator skills to work in the esports industry, networking within the motorsports industry and keeping warm during the UK winter.”
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