Freddie Hunt

Freddie Hunt (born 13 June 1987) is a British racing driver who most recently competed in the Prototype Cup Germany for Reiter Engineering.^[1] He is the son of the James Hunt and his second wife, Sarah Lomax.^[2][3]

Hunt began racing aged 18 with club motorsport. He made his single-seater debut in 2007 in British Formula Ford with Joe Tandy Racing, finishing 20th in the championship with 37 points. In the same year, Hunt competed in the Formula Ford Festival with little success.^[4] Hunt also drove two of his father's historic cars at the Silverstone Classic, namely the Hesketh 308 and the McLaren M23, which were driven by James Hunt to achieve his first race victory at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix and his first and only Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1976 respectively.^[5][6]

In 2008 Hunt competed in eight rounds of the ADAC Formel Masters series for Buchbinder Racing by Emotional Engineering, scoring 0 points.^[7] In the same year he also competed in the Club Ginetta Series for ADAC Motorsport, driving a Ginetta G20. The championship would result in the "most enjoyable race" of his career, in which he got pole position in a wet qualifying session before retiring in the race due to a throttle issue.^[8] In 2009, Hunt went back to the ADAC Formel Masters series, scoring 5 points and finishing 20th in the championship. In that same year he drove in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup in Germany, scoring 0 points. Mounting pressure from his family name and the intense scrutiny centred around his inability to match his father's level of success resulted in Hunt deciding to take a multi-year hiatus from motor racing. During this hiatus, Hunt competed in the ADAC Cruze Cup for Buchbinder Racing, driving a Chevrolet Cruze for Team ADAC Weser-Ems. He again competed in the championship in 2012, this time with Buchbinder Rent-a-Car by Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. He would see more success in this season, with three podiums in seven races.^[4][9] Hunt also participated in the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed, in which he drove his father's 1975 Hesketh 308B for the second time.^[10]

In 2013, Hunt made his official return to motorsport after he was invited as an international guest to compete in the Master de Pilotos de la República Argentina, a karting event that coincided with the Argentine premiere of the film Rush, which depicts the famous 1976 rivalry between his father and Niki Lauda.^[11] The race featured professional drivers from Argentina's major categories Súper TC2000 and Turismo Carretera competing on a specially designed street circuit in Puerto Madero. In a tribute to his father, Freddie competed using the number 11, the same number James Hunt carried during his 1976 Formula 1 World Championship-winning season. He finished 12th.^[12][4]

In 2014, Hunt competed in the Walter Hayes Trophy, driving a Swift SC92 in the Formula Ford 1600 category. He finished 17th.^[2][13] In 2015, Hunt would compete alongside Mathias Lauda, son of Niki Lauda, in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 series.^[14][15] Hunt finished the season 21st with 5 points. In the same year, Hunt also competed in the Renault UK Clio Cup for Bubble & Kick Racing, where he would finish 31st with 19 points.^[4] In 2015, Hunt would also step into endurance racing for the first time, competing in the Dunlop 24 Hour Race at Silverstone - Class 1 with Simon Green Motorsport, driving a Jaguar XKR-S.^[16][17] Hunt and his teammates Nigel Rata and Simon Green were only able to complete 38 laps before the car was retired. Additionally, Hunt would make a one-off appearance in the Aussie Racing Cars Super Series for Darwin Hyundai, driving a Hyundai Elantra.^[18][19] Overall, he finished 55th in the championship with 29 points.^[4] Also in 2015, Hunt would make a guest appearance in the Maserati Trofeo World Series, achieving pole position in the first race he entered and finishing 25th in the championship.^[20] Hunt also competed in the Pirelli World Challenge season finale at Laguna Seca in which he would become involved in a large incident at the start of the race. As the field accelerated for the standing start the fourth-place qualifier, Mark Wilkins, stalled on the grid. Coming from further back in the pack Hunt was unsighted and drilled into the back of the stalled Kia at approximately 60 mph (97 km/h). Hunt was ruled out of the event immediately and suffered a back injury that sidelined him from racing for several months.^[13]

After his recovery in 2016, Hunt was signed by DF1 Racing to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in the Elite 2 class alongside Mathias Lauda.^[21][22] Hunt had a standout debut weekend at Valencia, Spain. In the second race, he charged from 21st on the grid to finish 8th overall, which earned him his first rookie podium as the second-best rookie in the Elite 2 class for that race.^[23] Overall, he would finish 25th with 176 points. In the same year, he competed in the Elite 1 class in the same series with less success, finishing 29th with 118 points.^[4]

In 2017, Hunt signed with Brookspeed International Motorsport to race in the GT4 Northern Europe Cup in the Silver class, driving a Porsche Cayman CS MR GT4 alongside Steven Liquorish.^[24] He finished 21st in the standings with 4 points. A second attempt in the same year resulted in a further 14 points, with Hunt finishing 27th in the standings. In the same year, Hunt would achieve a class victory in the 24H Series - SP3-GT4, his first endurance race win.^[25][26]

The next year in 2018, Hunt competed in the V de V Endurance Series in the LMP3 class, driving for Nefis by Speed Factory. In the Estoril 6 Hours, Hunt would finish 2nd in his class and 6th overall, but as this was his only appearance in the season he would finish 41st with 34 points in the championship.^[27][4] In 2019 he drove in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, in the LMP3 class. He drove a Ligier JS P3 for RLR MSport, finishing 24th overall.^[28] Hunt drove in the GT4 South European Series in the same year before returning to the Le Mans Cup for Mühlner Motorsport in 2021, finishing 32nd in the championship with 2 points. In 2021, he also drove in the Sports Prototype Cup Revolution Trophy, where he finished 3rd with 2 podiums and a win.^[29][4]

In 2022, Hunt signed a five year contract to compete in the Le Mans Cup for Reiter Engineering, driving the Ligier JS P320.^[30][31] Hunt would finish 2nd in the LMP3 class, with two pole positions, three podiums and a win at Portimão in seven races.^[32] This resulted in Reiter Engineering finishing as runner up in the constructor standings.^[33] Hunt also competed in the Nissan Sentra Cup in Canada, in which he ended the season with 47 points in 20th before entering the European Le Mans Series in the LMP3 class for EuroInternational.^[34] He finished 20th in the standings with 10 points and secured his second victory in an LMP3 car during the Prototype Cup Germany round at the Nürburgring.^[35]

For 2023, Hunt signed with Reiter Engineering to compete in the Prototype Cup Germany. Hunt returned to the series for the round at Zandvoort (24–25 June 2023).^[4] This event was particularly sentimental as it was the site of his father James Hunt's first Grand Prix victory in 1975.^[36]

Hunt aims to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2026 to mark the 50th anniversary of his father's F1 World Championship. The project goes by the slogan "The Hunt for Le Mans".^[2][37][38]

† As Hunt was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)