A promising young Sheffield motorsport racer has spoken about his ambitions for the future after a strong start to his season.
Sheffield’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling, 19, finished fifth, fifth and seventh in his series debut at Silverstone, and leaves as the highest-placed British driver in the standings in fourth place.
Regarded as the final step before reaching the Formula 1 ladder, the GB3 Championship got underway on April 23rd.
He said: “Some of my idols have come through the GB3 Championship, and an awful lot of Formula 1 drivers.
“Recently the most successful to come through is Luke Browning, who is doing Super Formula in Asia alongside his role as Aston Martin Reserve Driver.”
He hopes to follow in the footsteps of former British F4 champion George Russell and last season’s Formula 1 World Champion Lando Norris, who competed before the category was rebranded in the 2021 season.
With a big gap until the next race weekend, starting May 29th, Campbell-Pilling is enjoying his down time in more ways than one.
He said: “I’ve been doing a lot of training and a lot of simulator work, and then just a lot of downtime to rest.
“The weather has been lovely at the moment, so I’ve been doing a bit of gardening, being out in the Peak District, and spending time with family and friends – just keeping myself busy really.”
He currently races for the Dubai-based Xcel Motorsport but, for young drivers, securing a long-term future in the sport depends largely on backing from sponsors.
Campbell-Pilling said: “We have great support from a lot of businesses in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. The commitment you get from them is incredible and, likewise, they get back what they put in.
“Whatever we can help them with, we will always try our best to do that.
“Something that is very close to my heart is flying the flag for our region, which this year has been all across the world. My job is to drive a racing car to the best of my ability and hopefully bring some shiny things back to Sheffield.”
Having visited Spa-Francorchamps as an F1 spectator, Campbell-Pilling said this is a ‘full circle moment’ as he prepares for Round 2 of the season at the end of this month.