The 18-year-old driver loves sim racing and dreams of Monaco. F1 is his biggest dream.
Taylor Barnard will make his debut in F3 next week, with Jenzer Motorsport and PHM Racing backing. Earlier this year, he raced in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, finishing as the runner-up after a thrilling battle with Antonelli. Despite narrowly missing out on the title, Barnard has demonstrated great talent throughout his campaign and will be one of the names to watch on the F3 grid this year. Before leaving for Bahrain, he found some time to share some insights into his 2023 season so far.
Starting with the Formula Regional Middle East, you are vice-champion after a season in which you showed really strong pace throughout by fighting for the title until the last minute. You were definitely unlucky in places, what is your analysis?
Going into the championship I was a rookie myself and the team were also new to it. It was all a bit new for us but in the end the result was very good. We had some really bad luck throughout. It feels kind of bad because I think we could have been champions, but in the end, if you take everything into consideration, if you had told us we would have been fighting for the title until the last race we would have been over the moon. It was really nice but of course to get so close and be so unfortunate it doesn’t feel that way.
The overall result is very good though and I also learned a lot, I think it prepped me well for the F3 season.
The Formula Regional car is considered one of the toughest ones to master. You hadn’t raced in it before but you were able to adapt to it incredibly quickly. How do you think this will help you in F3?
I think the F3 car in general is easier to drive, so getting used to something that is more difficult has to be a good thing. F3 is still a step up because the car is quicker, but a bit easier to handle than the Formula Regional one so this was really good preparation.
In F3 you almost have no time to adapt to the car. You have free practice and then qualifying is after the F1 and F2 sessions so the track condition is completely different. It’s all about adapting as quick as possible. In the Formula Regional we also had little practice time so I had to learn to do that, which was really good for me.
In F3 there is nearly no testing but you were able to get behind the wheel for three days in Bahrain, where you also started working with Jenzer. How are you finding the team so far and what are your goals for this season?
We worked well in the three days we had in Bahrain. The first day was quite positive with a very good result. The second and third days we struggled a bit with the car, we had a few technical issues. Now the team have had a couple of weeks to sort them out so going into the first race weekend I am aiming for points in both races. I think a podium is probably difficult for me to achieve just now, but towards the end of the season we should definitely be targeting top 5.
Apart from FRME championship, you haven’t driven in Formula Regional. The jump between F4 and F3 is quite a big one. Are you feeling any kind of pressure going into it?
I think the expectation pressure is very low this year considering Jenzer haven’t got any championships to defend. Going in as a rookie I think the best I can do is outperform and get a great result.
The F3 calendar includes tracks you have already raced at and ones where you haven’t. Is there a round you are particularly looking forward to?
Monaco. It’s just, everything. The track, the history, it’s a special place and I am really looking forward to racing there. I also think it suits my style of driving so I am looking forward to seeing how my pace is and how it feels.
Unlike other emerging drivers you are not part of any F1 team academies, but you have been racing with PHM which is a team that works quite differently in terms of supporting its drivers. How exactly are they helping you achieve your goals?
My transition from karting to F4 was very rough and it took me a long time to find my feet. At the end of last year PHM contacted me and we started working together. They supported me a lot financially, but also in every way. I have a mental coach and a physical coach, it’s a proper nice program to be a part of. Of course it’s different from an F1 academy but I have the support I need to get results and I think working together with PHM and Jenzer next year will be very nice.
You belong to generation of junior drivers who were heavily impacted by the pandemic and all the resulting restrictions. What do you think was the biggest challenge for you during that period and how do you think it is affecting your career?
Honestly it started a new chapter for me. In the middle of lockdown I started sim racing because I was spending a lot of time at home of course. I am still doing it now and I am really enjoying it.
I feel like the difficulties I faced were more financial. The team I was with was really struggling and I struggled with the car. There was never really the platform to get good results and it ended up impacting my self-confidence. When PHM then picked me up it took me some time to get my confidence back but as soon as I was able to do that the results started coming through.
Going back a few years now, during your karting career you had some really impressive results including several IAME and WSK titles and second place at the CIK-FIA European and World Championships. What is your favourite memory from that period?
It’s very difficult. I would say there were many races, but probably the one that stands out is Alahärmä, the World Championship in 2019. My whole family was there, which never really happens and to achieve such a good result while they were with me was very nice.
In terms of the World Championships though it is a bit of a rough topic for me. I got pole in qualy and I won all the heats but I never managed to finish it off in the finals. Being able to achieve such a high result with my family though still makes it my favourite.
What is the big dream for the future?
Of course in the end it would be to become an F1 world champion, but I need to get there first. I am on the right stepping stone, but there is a long way to go and I know it’s not going to be easy.
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