Brazilian Guilherme Samaia has joined Double R Racing for the 2017 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, it has been confirmed today (10 April), ahead of Easter Weekend's opening round of the season at Oulton Park (April 15-17).

Samaia will race alongside Brit Jamie Chadwick and Australian Harry Hayek at the Surrey-based team. The 20-year-old will become the first Brazilian driver on the 2017 grid and now joins Double R, which ran his fellow countryman Matheus Leist to last year’s British F3 title.

Samaia, who hails from Sao Paulo, has already enjoyed much success in single-seaters after he became the 2015 Brazilian F3 Light champion. He followed that up in 2016 by finishing as runner-up in the Brazilian F3-A category and he now moves to Europe to compete in the UK’s leading single-seater championship.



Samaia said: “I'm really happy to have joined Double R Racing. They are not only champions, they are truly motivated to keep pushing as I am. I feel I have been taken into the family with a warm welcome and have 100% trust in the team as they worked last year with my coach Danilo Dirani, who then coached last year's champion Matheus Leist.

"I used to, and still am at the moment, race in Brazil with the Dallara F308 car and now I face an entirely new challenge with the British F3 car. I have quite a lot to learn, it's my first time in Europe and the tracks, the car and climate are all new to me. The team is helping me to adapt fast, due to my late arrival in the UK at the end of March, and I'm confident we will be strong."

Anthony Hieatt, team principal of Double R Racing, commented: “We're delighted to have completed a deal with Guilherme to join the team, he did a good job at the Media Day test and he's more than proven his ability in Brazil.

"He's been brought over to the UK by Danilo Dirani, who we obviously know very well indeed and have worked with a long time, and we're all quietly confident Guilherme will make strong progress with Double R."

The 2017 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship season gets underway at Oulton Park in Cheshire on Easter Weekend (April 15-17).