Reigning GB3 Team Champion JHR Developments has confirmed young Australian racer Patrick Heuzenroeder as its first signing for the 2024 season.

The teenager started in motorsport at the age of 13, after a chance visit to the Eastern Creek kart track in Sydney sparked an interest in karting. Graduating to cars, he took part in the 2022 Ferrari Driver Academy Asia Pacific trials, competing against some of the best young drivers in the region and making it to the final, before narrowly missing out on the shootout in Italy.

Taking part in the New South Wales Formula Ford Championship in his first season out of karting, Patrick was third in the standings before he took the bold step to move 10,000 miles from home and head to the United Kingdom to further his career.

Lining up in the F4 British Championship last season, he scored a maiden podium finish at Snetterton, before joining the season-ending GB3 rounds. He made his debut during a tricky weekend at Zandvoort – after only one day in the car – and bounced back at Donington Park, scoring a podium in just his sixth race in the series.

Now making the step up to GB3 full-time for 2024, the young Australian has already completed several days of winter testing with JHR Developments, which had its most successful GB3 campaign last year, finishing third in the Drivers’ standings with Joseph Loake as well as clinching the Teams’ Championship title.

Patrick Heuzenroeder said: “I’m very pleased to be joining JHR Developments for the 2024 GB3 Championship. We worked extremely hard in winter testing, and I really enjoyed being in and around the team. They have a wealth of experience and are a great bunch who seem to understand my Aussie sense of humour! We worked well together from the first day.

“After such a competitive testing programme I feel really confident JHR is a great fit for me, and I was grateful to be rewarded with a seat with the outfit which won the 2023 GB3 Championship Teams’ title. I can’t wait to get the season underway in late March.”

JHR Developments Team Principal Steven Hunter said: “We are happy that Patrick is joining the team for the 2024 GB3 Championship season. He’s developed quickly as a young driver since moving to the United Kingdom and showed how much he has learned with his performances at the end of his season in tricky circumstances. We’re excited to help his progress and see what he can achieve throughout the year.”