Hitech TGR Season Review: Ups and downs in 2025

P8 in the Teams’ Standings was not what Hitech TGR had hoped for going into the 2025 campaign, but Team Manager Paul Bellringer was able to pick out the positives of an up and down year.

Reflecting on the season overall, he said that the team was able to show speed at times, but not as often as they’d have liked.

“I think it was a bit of a mixed season,” Bellringer explained. “Really, we had some parts of the year where we showed good promise, and then equally, we had a couple of bits where, for a whole raft of reasons, it wasn't as ideal as it possibly could have been.

“But I think this year especially, it was a championship year that was pretty strong, and you couldn't really afford to have an off weekend. And if you did, you were quite heavily penalised for it.”

Hitech lined up with Martinius Stenshorne, Gerrard Xie and then a rotation of drivers in the other car, which ultimately ended up impacting the final standings.

Bellringer explains where the line-up was able to show their speed, with victories for Stenshorne the highlight in a tough season.

The Norwegian’s win in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race and Spielberg Feature event proved that he made steps forward in what was his second campaign with the team.

“Martinius obviously came back with us for the second year, and we fancied our chances with that. Again, it was sort of a roller coaster - started off well in Australia, with a second in the sprint, and we thought we're on our way.

“He was on the podium five times, so he showed as an individual he had the pace in him. And equally, I think it showed that the Hitech car was able to mix it at the top end of the time sheets.

“Then it sort of peaked and troughed a little bit. Winning Monaco was nice, and then to win later on in the year in Austria was a good result. But then that couple DNFs, one thing or another, and you lose your momentum a little bit.

“Gerrard had a good year on balance, since he came in with limited experience of the F3 level. And I think he steadily improved all year, but unfortunately, everyone else was improving as well.

“So I think his genuine improvement that came within himself wasn't necessarily reflected in the timesheets at times, but I think it was nice that he got himself a point towards the end of the season as a reward for his efforts.

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“On the third car, obviously, through varying reasons, we had three more drivers for the rest of the season. But, to come in at that stage of the season when everyone else is fully up to speed, and they're coming in basically as rookies, they were always going to be on the back foot, which, which proved to be the case, which was frustrating for us.”

Overall, Hitech’s 90 points was a step back from their 2024 total and the campaign didn’t pan out how they’d hoped. Bellringer points to the team’s focus on what comes next in 2026 and the chance to put the wrongs of 2025 right.

After the three post-season tests in October, the teams will be working away from the race track in preparation for next year.

The Hitech Team Manager says that while it remains difficult to analyse their true performance levels in post-season testing, all eyes will be on the pre-season tests early next year.

“Testing, particularly at the end of the year, is difficult in terms of trying to get a gauge on the real level of everybody, because pretty much Day 2 AM is the golden couple of hours where everyone throws the tyres on trying to replicate qualifying, and I think you get a bit of a read on it.

“But other than that, there's such a mix between people on long runs, people are doing Sprint Race simulations, Feature Race simulations, you're never really comparing like for like.

“From the driver's point of view, they'll be working with their engineers in sim sessions and testing one thing or another. It's quite busy.

“Although Melbourne seems a long time away, it's going to go in a heartbeat, particularly when you take out the Christmas break. February will soon roll around, and we’ll be back in Barcelona. I think then you get a bit more of a read on the lay of the land.”