July 15, 2024

Patrick Heuzenroeder secured his first podium finish of 2024 and another top-five result during Round 5 (13-14 July) of the GB3 Championship season at Circuit Zandvoort.

Sporting an eye-catching livery representing a new collaboration with Hard Rock Cocktails, Heuzenroeder kicked off Round 5 at the 4.259-kilometre (2.646-mile) Dutch track on Thursday with a rigorous testing programme. The Australian’s best time of the day, which featured four 45-minute test sessions, saw him in fourth position in the final batch of running, marking a strong start to running at the home of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix as he carried the momentum of his best round to-date at the Hungaroring three weeks prior.

Friday gave way to changeable weather conditions, providing Heuzenroeder the chance to gather valuable experience in the wet at Circuit Zandvoort across two 45-minute free practice sessions. He demonstrated promising wet weather pace, although it was difficult to complete consistent running with a number of red flags interrupting the sessions.

Clouds continued to threaten Circuit Zandvoort on Saturday morning and rain fell once again as qualifying approached. GB3’s field of 20 drivers were forced onto wet tyres and Heuzenroeder finished the challenging session in 10th position. However, his second-best lap time placed him sixth on the grid for Race 2 – a representative view of the Australian’s true pace.

Race 1 began with treacherous mixed conditions as light rain produced a greasy track, although drivers opted to battle through the race on slick Pirelli tyres due to a lack of standing water. Heuzenroeder held his position on lap one until an incident later in the tour saw him sustain front wing damage, ultimately retiring on lap four.

Despite the setback, The Racing Kelpie’ bounced back on Sunday morning. A good launch off the line from 6th saw Heuzenroeder make a bold late-braking move for a pass on the inside of turn one. He emerged from the lap one tussle, which was halted by a red flag for a multi-car incident on the grid, in sixth.

Heuzenroeder maintained his position as the race resumed with a second standing start but a safety car period soon interrupted the contest for a second time. The 20-minute race was reduced in length as a result of the stoppages, giving Heuzenroeder limited opportunities to move forward. He gained one place and crossed the line in fifth position with a clean run to the chequered flag, securing his third top-five finish in four races.

Race 3 took place under sunny skies with Heuzenroeder lining up for the 25-minute reverse-grid event in third position. A blistering getaway off the line saw the 18-year-old immediately leap to the front of the field, sweeping around the outside of his teammate to take the lead into turn one.

After losing positions by being slightly out of position through the tricky turn three, he found a rhythm in third place by the end of the lap and held his position confidently, placing the second-placed driver under constant pressure as the race progressed. Heuzenroeder crossed the line to take a landmark first podium of the season in third place.

Another strong weekend in Continental Europe sees Heuzenroeder solidify his current  10th place in the championship standings before GB3 ventures back to the United Kingdom for Round 6 of the season at Silverstone in two weeks (27-28 July).

Patrick Heuzenroeder said:

“It’s a great feeling to finish the Continental European leg of the GB3 season with my first podium of 2024. By performing at the same high level here at Circuit Zandvoort we proved that our speed in Hungary was representative of where we can be week in and week out, and hopefully we can just get faster and faster.

“It was a shame not to score points in Race 1 but we are leaving the Netherlands with another big haul of points nevertheless. In the top five and around the top three is where I want to be and I am looking forward to continuing this string of good results at Silverstone in two weeks.”

12 July 2024

Australian racing driver Patrick Heuzenroeder today announces a brand-new collaboration with Hard Rock Cocktails.

Patrick is competing in his maiden GB3 Championship campaign in 2024 and is in the top 10 in the Championship standings after four of the eight rounds to-date – an outstanding result for a rookie driver with only limited experience of this car and the famous tracks upon which the Championship races. GB3 is the premier single-seater category in the United Kingdom. Patrick will kick-start the second half of the season this weekend (13-14 July) at world-famous Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands, where his car will sport a new and distinctive livery to mark the collaboration with Hard Rock Cocktails.

It is the latest significant development in a landmark year for Patrick. In March, it was announced that he would be mentored in his 2024 campaign by David Brabham, the former Formula 1 driver, multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and multiple 12 Hours of Sebring winner, and by the highly regarded UK F1 comms and PR expert, Matt Bishop, Managing Director of Diagonal Comms.

That type of backing has supported Patrick as he goes from strength to strength in his rookie GB3 Championship season. He has recorded double-figure points-scoring finishes in half of the season’s 12 races so far, and he experienced his best-ever weekend at the previous round at the Hungaroring, Hungary, where he finished in the top five twice.

Patrick Heuzenroeder said:
“I’m delighted to announce this brand-new collaboration with Hard Rock Cocktails – one of the world’s most iconic brands. They know the world of motorsport and Formula 1 well and I’m looking forward to hitting the track in my car with its stunning new Hard Rock Cocktails look. It’s my dream to one day make it to F1, and having Hard Rock Cocktails in my corner, alongside the likes of David Brabham and Diagonal Comms, is hopefully another important piece in giving me every chance of making it. I can’t thank all of those who are supporting me enough for creating these opportunities.

“I’ve made a solid start to my maiden GB3 Championship season and, fresh from my best performance so far at the previous round in Hungary, I’m excited to crack on and keep climbing the standings in the second half of the season. That begins at Zandvoort this weekend and I can’t wait to get in the car and race in my new Hard Rock Cocktails livery.”

Hagay Naor (Hard Rock Cocktails) said:
“It is not without reason that Hard Rock has entered into cooperation with Patrick Heuzenroeder. Commitment, hard work, and hundreds of hours helped us to create cocktails that will allow our clients to create an amazing party in the comfort of their home, and to take the party to any dream place without unnecessary intermediate products. Hard Rock Cocktails, in addition to amazing taste sensations, also provide unforgettable emotions when celebrating any occasion. Where can you find greater and unprecedented emotions than at motorsport events?”

Notes to editors:

About Patrick Heuzenroeder

Patrick has enjoyed a meteoric rise since embarking on his motorsport career aged 13 following a chance visit to a karting circuit in Sydney, Australia. After racing karts in his homeland for the next three years, he progressed to cars when he competed in the New South Wales Formula Ford Championship. Despite lying an excellent third in the championship standings with the season still in progress, Patrick took the brave decision to depart for the UK in pursuit of his dream of one day reaching F1.

Patrick’s talent was recognised by Ferrari in their 2022 Driver Academy Asia Pacific selection programme, in which he progressed to the final six from an initial line-up of 23 of the most talented young drivers in Asia, Oceania and Australasia. Narrowly missing out on progressing to the world final in Italy only increased Patrick’s determination to pursue a career in single-seaters.

Aged just 16, Patrick made the 10,000-mile trip from his native Australia to the UK – to dedicate himself entirely to motorsport. After a rigorous winter testing programme, he joined the FIA Global Pathway with Argenti’s British Formula 4 team for 2023. Racing in one of the most competitive British F4 fields ever, Patrick developed quickly and impressed sufficiently in his rookie year to go on to take part in the final two rounds of the Formula 3 level GB3 Championship – the UK’s leading single-seater championship. Following a successful GB3 winter testing programme in which he showed impressive pace, Patrick secured a full seat with reigning GB3 Teams’ Championship winners, JHR Developments, for the 2024 GB3 Championship season.  

About Hard Rock Cocktails

It was only a matter of time before the best cocktails prepared by selected bartenders from Hard Rock – the global hospitality chain – would become available to a wider group of consumers around the world. Our experience and a large group of bartenders have developed recipes for Hard Rock Cocktails, which have gained fans all over the world and, most importantly, among people who do not have a Hard Rock property in their immediate area.

About Diagonal Comms

Founded in June 2023 on its principals’ unrivalled experience in general sport, motorsport and automotive, Diagonal Comms delivers strategic, sophisticated, authentic, effective, media-savvy, no-nonsense communications, digital/social media, and influencer marketing based on peerless expertise and a passionate commitment to understand, and deliver against, our clients’ challenges and objectives.

With a rich and varied 30-year career in top-tier motorsport, including extensive journalism experience, followed by senior leadership communications roles within McLaren’s and Aston Martin’s Formula One operations, Matt Bishop has carved out a reputation as an immensely capable strategist and communications expert, with considerable hands-on experience of crisis communications management.

He is also a passionate advocate and ambassador for diversity, equity, and inclusion, since he was one of the founders of W Series, the women-only single-seater racing championship, and is a founder ambassador of Racing Pride, which was established in association with Stonewall and seeks to support and further the rights and interests of LGBTQ+ people in motorsport generally.

For more information, please contact:

Matt Bishop, Managing Director, Diagonal Comms: matt.bishop@diagonalcomms.com
Joe Downes, Business Director, Diagonal Comms: joe.downes@diagonalcomms.com

Patrick Heuzenroeder executed his most successful weekend in the GB3 Championship so far during Round 4 (22-23 June), securing two top-five finishes at the Hungaroring.

With sunny skies overhead, the Australian turned his first laps of the 4.381-kilometre (2.722-mile) Hungarian circuit on Thursday, taking part in 60 minutes of open testing. He immediately broke into the top ten, finishing the day in eighth place. Two 45-minute practice sessions under 35 C temperatures followed on Friday and underlined an encouraging start to the round; Heuzenroeder’s best lap time of the day placed him fifth.

The 18-year-old continued to excel as qualifying rolled around on Saturday morning, taking seventh place on the grid for Race 1 in a tightly contested session, finishing just 0.055 seconds shy of fifth. His second-best lap time secured a sixth-position start for Race 2 – the best of the JHR Developments team – and placed him in good stead for the following contests.

Heuzenroeder backed up a promising qualifying session with strong long-run pace as Race 1 got underway on Saturday evening. A brilliant launch off the line saw him challenge for sixth place on lap one, although he would settle down in eighth as the 20-minute race matured. He closely followed the championship leader to the chequered flag, bagging a healthy haul of points in the top ten.

Running off the high of his best finish of the season, Heuzenroeder rose to fifth position on the opening lap of Race 2. Overtaking opportunities across the 20-minute contest were scarce due to the Hungaroring’s technical layout and Heuzenroeder settled down inside the top five, however, he consistently proved faster than the car ahead.

A post-race penalty for a competitor would later elevate ‘The Racing Kelpie’ to fourth, building on the positive momentum from Saturday’s strong performances with his first top-five finish of 2024.

Heuzenroeder concluded the weekend with another impressive showing in Race 3 on Sunday afternoon. He started the 25-minute reverse-grid race from sixth position and climbed to fifth with a well-executed switchback overtake at Turn 2, before pressuring the championship leader while defending from the chasing pack in a level-headed manner as the race continued. Heuzenroeder crossed the line fifth, marking his best weekend of the season.

A haul of 46 points from GB3’s second round in Continental Europe elevates Heuzenroeder to tenth in the championship standings as we pass the halfway mark in the season. The next stop for the JHR Developments driver is Circuit Zandvoort, home of the Dutch Grand Prix, on July 13-14.

Patrick Heuzenroeder: “It’s been a really strong weekend. Even though it was my first time at the Hungaroring, we had the pace from the first practice session and we carried that speed forward into qualifying and all three races. Not only did we prove that we were fast over one lap, but we showed that we could challenge the front-runners over a full race distance. To round out the first half of the GB3 Championship season with my best weekend so far is a great feeling. We’re looking forward to maximising this momentum in Zandvoort in three week’s time.”

27 March 2024

Eighteen-year-old Australian racing driver Patrick Heuzenroeder today announces that he is to be supported in his 2024 campaign by former Formula 1 driver, multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and multiple 12 Hours of Sebring winner, David Brabham, and by the highly regarded UK F1 comms and PR expert, Matt Bishop, Managing Director of Diagonal Comms.

Brabham Group is pleased to sign the young driver under the Group’s mentoring programme for the 2024 season. David Brabham will be working with Patrick Heuzenroeder over the course of the year to develop and guide him in becoming an elite driver as he participates in the 2024 GB3 Championship season and pursues the path towards F1. David has more than 30 years of racing experience and brings a wealth of knowledge and insight both on and off the track, which will give Patrick a solid foundation for a professional career in motorsport. David is, of course, a fellow Australian and the son of three-time F1 world champion and all-time-great Australian motor racing legend, Sir Jack Brabham. David was also Team Director for Motorsport UK’s British Elite Driver Programme (Team UK) for six years.

Diagonal Comms, the communications, PR, media, content and digital marketing agency founded by the experienced F1 and motorsport comms chief, Matt Bishop, will also advise and work with Patrick throughout the 2024 GB3 Championship season to develop his media and online presence. Diagonal Comms’ turn-key communications/PR and digital/social media engagement with Patrick will include media outreach, media training, social media management, content creation and digital marketing.

Patrick has enjoyed a meteoric rise since embarking on his motorsport career aged 13 following a chance visit to a karting circuit in Sydney. After racing karts in his homeland for the next three years, he progressed to cars when he competed in the 2022 NSW (New South Wales) Formula Ford Championship. Despite lying an excellent third in the championship standings with the season still in progress, Patrick took the brave decision to depart for the UK in pursuit of his dream of one day reaching F1.

Patrick’s talent was recognised by Ferrari in their 2022 Driver Academy Asia Pacific selection programme, in which he progressed to the final six from an initial line-up of 23 of the most talented young drivers in Asia, Oceania, and Australasia. Narrowly missing out on progressing to the world final in Italy only increased Patrick’s determination to pursue a career in single-seaters.

Aged just 16, Patrick made the 10,000-mile trip from his native Australia to the UK – to dedicate himself entirely to motorsport. After a rigorous winter testing programme, he joined the FIA Global Pathway with Argenti’s British Formula 4 team for 2023. Racing in one of the most competitive British F4 fields ever, Patrick developed quickly and impressed sufficiently in his rookie year to go on to take part in the final two rounds of the Formula 3 level GB3 Championship – the UK’s leading single-seater championship. Following a successful GB3 winter testing programme in which he showed impressive pace, Patrick has secured a full seat with reigning GB3 Teams’ championship winners JHR Developments for the 2024 GB3 Championship season, which starts at the historic and challenging Oulton Park circuit on 30 March 2024.

Patrick Heuzenroeder said:
“I am incredibly excited to be working with an Aussie racing legend of the stature of David Brabham. He is part of one of the world’s greatest motorsport dynasties, the Brabham family, and I am very fortunate to have him as my mentor. I intend to learn as much from him as I can, as fast as possible. I am also thrilled to be working with Matt Bishop and his team at Diagonal Comms. Their skills and experience can help raise my profile and create new opportunities that will take me to where I want to be. My ultimate goal is Formula 1, and I am determined to chase and realise that dream.

“My motto is ‘purpose, commitment, and resilience’, and those are all qualities that I have shown since I left my home in Australia at the age of 16 and travelled 10,000 miles to the UK to pursue a career at the highest level of motorsport. I have sacrificed everything to be here, I am obsessed with racing, and I am totally focused on improving every day so as to achieve my goals.

“I am looking forward to taking the next step this season in the GB3 Championship – a highly competitive eight-round series that races on some of the world’s most famous circuits. I will be up against some of the most talented young drivers on the planet, and you can be sure that one of us will go on to make it to F1. I am working tirelessly – both in the car and out of it – every day to make sure that it is me.”

David Brabham said:
“I very much look forward to working with Patrick Heuzenroeder over the course of the year as he competes in the very competitive British GB3 Championship. I know that the path to Formula 1 will be a challenging one, but Patrick has speed and a great attitude, and he wants to learn. He has all the attributes needed to succeed in motorsport.

“I am looking forward to sharing my experience with him, opening up my network, and supporting him at tests and races, to get him to F1. In addition, I have known Matt Bishop for many years, and I am delighted that Patrick will be working with Matt and his Diagonal Comms team.

“Patrick is an ambitious and driven young man and I would encourage everyone to get behind him, not only in Australia but also elsewhere. I look forward to supporting and mentoring him in 2024 and beyond.”

Matt Bishop (Managing Director, Diagonal Comms) said:
“I have worked with many excellent drivers in my motorsport career, including four Formula 1 world champions [Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel], and one of the aspects of that work that I have always enjoyed most is identifying young talents and helping them develop and thrive. When I was McLaren’s Comms Director [2008-2017] I was very involved in the team’s young driver development programme, working closely with gifted young drivers such as Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne, and Nyck de Vries, all of whom made it to F1.

“I am therefore absolutely delighted that Diagonal Comms will be working with a very exciting young talent, Patrick Heuzenroeder, from Australia. Patrick is only 18 but already we can say that we think he has what it takes to reach the highest level. Together with his mentor David Brabham, whom I have known for many years and whom I hold in very high regard, we will do our utmost to try to make sure he does just that.”