After six seasons spent in karting from the Coupe de France Cadet podium to the highest level in the world in the top-tier category, Arthur Rogeon who lives 100 km West from Le Mans is preparing to make the move to motor racing and single-seaters. Aged 16 he will compete in the British GB3 Championship a series which, in terms of performance, is midway between F4 and FIA F3. After several test sessions at the end of 2022 he will join the Chris Dittmann Racing team for a programme spread over two seasons.
Drivers change from karting to car racing every year. But it’s much rarer for a young French driver to choose an English team in a British Championship in which the great majority of races take place on the other side of the Channel. This, though, is the challenge Rogeon has set himself in 2023!
The GB3 Championship – formerly the British F3 Championship – is organised by MSV, a company set up by former F1 driver, Jonathan Palmer. The Tatuus single-seater used by all the competitors has a carbon monocoque with a protective halo. Its engine pushes out 250 bhp and it has a six-speed sequential gearbox with steering wheel-mounted paddles. Driver and car weigh 598 kg, making it one of the lightest single-seaters on the market.
Arthur looks back at his first laps in his new world last November. “I began with two days in an F4 on the Snetterton circuit, which went off well so the team asked me to test the GB3. I tested for two days on the Silverstone grand prix circuit that hosts the British GP before returning to Snett for another two days. But with only three half-hour sessions on a dry track. However, it was enough for the aerodynamic downforce to blow me away, a phenomenon that was completely new to me. Although I haven’t yet found the limit I’ve been able to see that the faster you go the more the car sticks to the track!”
A year to learn, a year to win…
Julien Abelli, the founder of the Simumotion Company, is still in Arthur’s camp to guide him on his debut at this level; and he gave us his impressions at the dawn of the new season. “Arthur was very much at ease behind the wheel of the F4. And then the GB3 option arose; it fits in with the perspectives we’re looking at over the next four years. The GB3 car is very quick and its performance is comparable to those in Formula Regional Europe (FRECA). Arthur will be very well prepared for this learning season. He won’t change the way he organises his studies in FFSA Academy’s Pole France at Le Mans where he also does a lot of sport. Thanks to Simumotion, he will benefit in parallel from a programme combining sport and simulator training. In fact, we’ve modelled GB3 so that he can train. I’d like to thank Chris Dittmann Racing for having accepted to bet on Arthur for two years with the aim of fighting for the title in 2024. I know how they work; they can win races.”
The team managed by Chris Dittmann helped one of their drivers to the runner-up spot in the GB3 Championship in 2021. “I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical about passing directly to GB3 without tackling F4 beforehand,” said the British team manager. “But in the light of what he showed behind the wheel during testing, I think he’s got great potential and he’s ready to take the plunge!”
One of the difficulties that Arthur has to cope with is how he approaches the circuits. The calendar includes four events on circuits used for Formula 1: Silverstone (twice), Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Zandvoort in The Netherlands. The other four meetings will take place on classic English tracks: Oulton Park, Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Donington Park. These are all circuits on which a driver usually pays a high price if he exceeds the limits! Note that all the races will be livestreamed around the world.