“We’ve made a step forward,” Hauger pleased with Hitech progress

A first podium in just your third round of a Championship as challenging as Formula 3 would delight most drivers, but Dennis Hauger was left wanting more after his third place finish in Race 2 in Budapest, and that speaks volumes for the Hitech racer’s character.

Hauger made a triumphant lunge from third to second at the start of Race 2 on Sunday, before following it up with an overtake of the race leader, David Beckmann, on Turn 2 of the second lap, after a tense battle between the pair.

For all of his efforts at the start, the Norwegian wouldn’t last the course in P1. He leaned heavily on his tyres for his early charge and ultimately dropped back down the order as the wear began to show.

He crossed the line in fourth, but was promoted to third as Bent Viscaal was handed two five-second penalties from first and dropped out of the points.

“I am quite happy,” he summarized. “I think that it could have been better, and we had the pace to be P1. I had mega pace at the beginning, but then I struggled towards the middle and the end.

“Overall, I can't really say too much, I am happy with it, and I have just got to keep progressing. I think that we’ve made a step forward this weekend, both myself as a driver and ourselves as a team.

“I think that in the beginning and middle of the race we had really good pace, but then I started to struggle with the tyres and that ruined it a bit for me. I think that I have got to learn from this and hopefully we can make it better for the next race.”

Hitech were the vice-champions in F3 last season, and the only side who truly matched PREMA’s pace on a consistent basis, but the British sqaud have struggled to replicate their efforts from last season.

Having taken his first podium, and Hitech’s second of the year, Hauger says that he is pleased with the progress that they have made so far.

“I think we are building up more and more now and the pace is getting better and better,” he continued. “Going into Silverstone we will keep working as a team and hopefully we can get some more points and podiums. Hopefully, I can be on the top step of the podium next.

“To be a rookie and come on the podium is positive and I have just got to look forward to Silverstone and keep pushing.”