GB3 Championship front-runners Callum Voisin and Joseph Loake have been announced as finalists for this year’s Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
The duo are amongst the four contenders for the most prestigious award of its kind in the UK, alongside FIA F3 race-winner Taylor Barnard and Italian F4 leader Arvid Lindblad. The winner will receive a prize test with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team, £200,000, full membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, an Arai helmet and a personalised helmet bag courtesy of Jordan Bespoke.
This year’s winner will be announced at the Autosport Awards on 3 December, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, as they look to follow in the footsteps of previous GB3 champions Luke Browning and Zak O’Sullivan as recipients of the prize, which has also been won by Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Lando Norris and George Russell.
Rodin Carlin’s Voisin currently leads the GB3 Championship courtesy of a victory and eight podiums, and is excited to be among the finalists.
“Point-wise it’s exactly where I thought we’d be, but I only just got my first win, which wasn’t part of the plan but better late than never!
“The Award was in the back of my mind as I did get into the top 10 last year, so I wanted to do my best to get in there. It’s a brilliant opportunity to drive some pretty cool cars and I’ll be on the phone to drivers about them – fortunately my brother [Bailey] has GT and LMP3 experience.”
JHR Developments’ Joseph Loake is his nearest contender for the crown, having won four times with three other podiums.
“If you’d said at the start of the season I’d be in the championship fight I’d have taken it with both hands” he said. “Stepping up from F4 to GB3 and being on the pace was a massive surprise and the GB3 car felt pretty natural.
“To be nominated in the top 10 was a surprise and I was happy to be in the list then, so to be in the final four is special. I’m looking forward to all of the cars – apart from Fiesta Junior I’ve never driven anything with a roof!”
Each finalist will undergo fitness and simulator evaluations before a two-day test at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in MSV Formula 2 machinery plus a United Autosports Ligier LMP3 car and a Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
BRDC vice-president Derek Warwick is the chairman of the judging panel, which includes Award winners Dario Franchitti, Darren Turner, Andrew Kirkaldy and Alexander Sims, successful Lola and McLaren designer Mark Williams, Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade, leading commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport Chief Editor Kevin Turner.
The prize has been claimed by drivers from the GB3 Championship or its BRDC British F3/BRDC F4 predecessors in seven of the past nine stagings, with O’Sullivan (2021) and Browning (2022) the most recent winners. MSV’s track record also includes Russell (2014), Will Palmer (2015), Norris (2016), Tom Gamble (2018), and Johnathan Hoggard (2019).