Carlin Motorsport
News
Monday, 22 February 2010

Jazeman Jaafar joins Carlin for British F3

Malaysian racer Jazeman Jaafar will join current British F3 champions Carlin for 2010 in his first season in Formula 3.  The former Formula BMW Europe driver will race in Britain for the first time this season with the five time championship winning team. 

17 year-old Jaafar, who races with the backing of Malaysian national oil company PETRONAS, moves up to British F3 following a strong season in the competitive Formula BMW Europe championship in 2009.  Supporting selected European Formula 1 rounds, Jaafar raced on some of the most prestigious circuits in Europe, with podiums in Barcelona and Valencia forming the highlight of his season. 

Jaafar will be joining the most successful team in British F3 history when he competes in his first F3 race at Oulton Park in April.  The Carlin squad took seven wins last season courtesy of eventual champion Daniel Ricciardo and Max Chilton and 19 podiums in total.  Ricciardo was Carlin’s fifth British F3 champion and the team aim to add to this tally with a third consecutive title in 2010. 
 
Speaking about his new team, Jaafar said, “I’m delighted to be with Carlin this season.  I’ve known Trevor for quite a few years and to be now driving for him in British F3 is a dream come true.  I would also like to thank PETRONAS for giving me this opportunity for to bring me to a higher level in my racing career. It will be important to learn as much as possible this season; there are new tracks as well as a new car for me to learn, but I’m confident that I can get up to speed quickly.  British F3 is a very competitive championship and has a very prestigious history and I can’t wait for the season to get started.”

Carlin race director Trevor Carlin added, “Jazeman is a great young talent and a driver we have been watching for some time.  We’re delighted that he and PETRONAS have chosen Carlin as the team with which to continue his career. 

“We were very impressed with him in testing, both in terms of his performance on track and his attitude out of the car.  It’s going to be a steep learning curve for him; racing on tracks that are unfamiliar to him, but I’m sure he’s going to provide some impressive results in his rookie season.”

Pre-season testing will kick off on 24th – 25th February at Snetterton.