Hoggard feeling ‘closer’ to where he wants to be, after scoring first F3 points in Race 2

Still only two rounds into his Formula 3 career, Johnathan Hoggard put on two overtake-fuelled performances at the Red Bull Ring, making up 17 places in two races to earn his first point at this level, finishing 10th in Race 2.

Joining Jenzer Motorsport in place of Pierre-Louis Chovet ahead of Round 2, without any 2021 testing experience at this level, Hoggard says he’s still playing catch-up in his fight to be competitive, but he feels he has taken a positive step forward in Spielberg.

“It feels really good to get a much better result than the past couple of races,” said Hoggard. “It feels closer to where I want to be. It was a good race with a good start, where I managed to keep my nose clean.

“I am still struggling a little bit to make the moves that I need to, to really climb up the order a bit further, but we are going to be working hard to find little bits and pieces that will help us to improve.

“I am still not quite as comfortable as I would like to be. I am struggling to get on top of the tyres with the limited amount of testing that I have had - you have only got 45 minutes of Free Practice really. It is a tough one to get used to. It’s only a short space of time. Hopefully, the more time I spend in the car, the more steps forward I can take.”

Returning to his Qualifying position of 27th for Race 3, Hoggard will have to do it all over again on Sunday, although his overtaking experience from Races 1 and 2 should put him in a solid place to advance through the field.

“It is a good result, but we have got to put it in the back of our minds and focus on the race,” continued Hoggard. “We will be starting further back tomorrow, so hopefully we can make some good moves again and progress up the field.

“I really like it here, although I have never been here before. I wasn't here for pre-season, but it’s a brilliant track, very high speed and a really nice to drive.”