Double R Racing has confirmed impressive young 16-year-old talent Louis Foster will remain with the team for the 2020 season with a step up to the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship.

Hampshire-based Foster, who starred with Woking’s Double R during his maiden single-seater season in last year’s F4 British Championship, will stay with Anthony Hieatt’s team for the move into the UK’s premier slicks-and-wings category.

Ending the 2019 British F4 campaign third overall, despite some serious misfortune along the way, Foster – who is managed by MB Partners and attends Lord Wandsworth College – was regularly one of the quickest drivers in the series, which he proved with six race wins, six other podiums, five pole positions and eight fastest laps.

Prior to making the move into single-seaters, Foster raced in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2018 where he scored the most points of any driver but on ‘drop scores’ he missed out on the title by a mere eight points. He won more races than anyone with nine victories and 10 other podiums.

The youngster joins Danish-American racer Benjamin Pedersen in Double R’s line-up and is undaunted by the challenge ahead.

“I am incredibly excited to be stepping into the BRDC British F3 Championship in 2020,” said the teenager. “Debuting in single-seaters last year taught me so much and I feel a much more rounded driver as a result. BRDC British F3 represents the pinnacle of the single-seater ladder in the UK, you only have to look at the names of who has enjoyed success in the series previously to understand how incredibly high the standard within this championship is.

“For the third year in a row I’ll be graduating to the next rung of the ladder, but I’m delighted to be doing so alongside Double R Racing. I loved working with the team last year, built great relationships and enjoyed plenty of success along the way. I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of me to familiarise myself with the new machinery but I’m really motivated to get to grips with it as quickly as possible, and working with Double R again will only help with that.”

Double R, of course, has a long and successful history within the ranks of F3 racing at home and abroad but the domestic championship is where the squad has enjoyed most success. In 2006 the team, then known as Räikkönen Robertson Racing, won its first British F3 title with Mike Conway and Double R then claimed championship victory with Mathias Leist in 2016 and Linus Lundqvist in 2018.

Speaking on Foster’s deal for 2020, team boss Anthony Hieatt said: “Louis had a hugely successful year in 2019, particularly when you remember it was his first season in single-seaters. Not only was Louis very quick out on track but he worked with the team excellently and it is always nice to continue working together when you’ve built up those relationships.

“Louis is already hard at work preparing for the transition to BRDC British Formula 3 and I’ve no doubt he has another successful year ahead of him. He will, of course have an experienced team-mate in Benjamin [Pedersen] to learn from too, so we’re looking forward to a strong season.”

Double R’s third BRDC British F3 driver is expected to be announced shortly.