FIA Formula 3 driver Joseph Loake sampled the revised Circuito de Navarra layout in a GB3 single-seater car recently, and was quick to praise the new-look venue on his first ever visit.

Loake, one of Britain’s most promising young drivers, having won the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award earlier this year, was at the wheel of the rapid Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car, which will be introduced into the GB3 Championship next year.

As part of the new car’s testing programme, which featured four days of running at Circuito de Navarra last week, Loake got behind the wheel on the final day, and was impressed with both the track, and the new car.

“It’s a cool track” he said. “I’d never been there before and I really enjoyed it. It’s a track that deserves a lot of credit, especially with the addition of the hairpin and fast chicane that’s been added recently.

“It’s a really fun track to drive and you’d get some pretty good racing around there. It’s got a lot of commitment corners and it really rewards a well pushed lap. I hope I get to drive there again soon.”

Loake has driven across the world in F3 this year, while also testing machinery in the USA, and found Circuito de Navarra to be different to any other track he’d visited before.

“It’s a very unique circuit in a lot of ways and has a lot of undulation that a lot of European circuits tend to lack now. It also rewards a clever driver, and isn’t really comparable to any other circuit I’ve driven on, it’s very unique!”