Australian karting talent Hugh Barter has earned himself a fully paid seat in the 2021 French Formula 4 Championship after winning the 2020 Richard Mille Young Talent Academy.
Taking place at the famous Bugatti circuit, which hosts the iconic 24 Hour of Le Mans, the 15-year-old joined nine young stars from around the globe and took on a series of driving assessments and other tests over two days.
Starting on Monday morning, the drivers took part in physical and mental valuations before studying the circuit through video content. They were then later introduced and fitted into their particular Formula 4 cars where they would be doing all their testing on Tuesday.
When Tuesday came around, all 10 drivers got the opportunity to shine as they got three sessions around the circuit – the first of which had rain plummeting down on before clearing up for the remaining sessions – giving participants a mix of all conditions.
As the day wore on, a pecking order began to establish amongst the 10 hopefuls as few continued to impress a panel of jurors, before 10 was halved to five and then again to three where the Victorian, along with Albin Karlsson from Sweden and local talent Craig Tanic were selected to progress to the sixth and final session.
From there, Barter’s maturity, consistency and speed behind the wheel was on full display as he did ultimately enough to be chosen by the panel as the driver they deemed worthy of sponsorship under Richard Mille in the Championship next year.
Following his selection, Barter took to social media to announce the news and to show his appreciation to all those around him.
“What an awesome opportunity that I was given and all my dreams are starting to come true.
“Thanks to Michael Patrizi from Patrizicorse for making this happen and believing in me.
“Thanks to all the people at the FFSA Academy for all the hard work over the last few days. Also the people at Richard Mille for making the Driver Academy/Shootout happen and especially for selecting me.”
The calendar for the 2021 French Formula 4 Championship will be released in the coming months.