Young-gun Kiwi aiming at back-to-back UK titles

Young Kiwi junior formulae star Louis Sharp heads to Donington Park this weekend for the penultimate round of the GB3 Championship, where he hopes to set up his bid for back-to-back British titles.

2023 was a year of flowing accolades for the Christchurch native after he became the youngest ever recipient of the UK’s National Racing Driver of the Year award after winning the British Formula 4 title. 

In his bid to go back-to-back in 2024, Sharp’s strong affiliation with Rodin Motorsports has continued into the GB3 Championship where he’s taken two wins and five podiums to lead the title race by a slender 4 points over British driver John Bennett.

Sharp (#7) fought hard at Silverstone to retake the GB3 Championship lead

It was a lead he re-inherited after the last round at Silverstone with two podiums, and he’ll have six races to consolidate the lead at both Donington and Brands Hatch.

“I’m feeling really good about the remaining two rounds,” the 17-year old said. 

“Donington and Brands have both been good tracks for the team so they are feeling confident and they were also strong tracks for me in F4…it was where I closed out last year’s championship last year. 

“Now I’m hoping to do the same in GB3 and I don’t see any reason why I can’t. Being back on familiar tracks after three mid-season rounds on F1 circuits in Europe (Spa, Hungary, Zandvoort) is definitely a benefit.”

Across those unfamiliar circuits, Sharp took two podiums in Spa, and a memorable win at the Hungaroring, but he also lost points with two retirements across that period.

“Of course the bad luck I had in Europe is frustrating but that’s a part of racing and such stuff happens.” 

“It’s now up to me to forget about what might have been and to concentrate on the next races ahead. It would have been nice to have 50 or 60 more points in the bag, but this is my first season in GB3 and I am leading, so I’m focusing on the positives.”

Sharp took his first major Junior Formulae win outside of the UK in Hungary back in April

In proving his huge potential, Sharp also recently took part in a Euroformula (Dallara 320 chassis F3 spec machine) testing weekend at Monza, topping the sheets in a head turning display against the likes of the F1 bound Ollie Bearman, and F3’s Luke Browning.

“It was a good opportunity to learn a new car and a new track; more so as I’m sure I’ll be racing at Monza in the next few years.” 

“Obviously it was a good day, too, as I was quickest in both the morning and afternoon. It was really cool to be up against those on the current F2 and F3 grids – even more as I was quicker than them. It was definitely a very beneficial experience and gives me great confidence for what will, hopefully, come next year.”

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