Matthew Rees (racing driver)

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Matthew Rees
Rees driving at Silverstone during the 2023 GB3 Championship
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (2005-07-27) 27 July 2005 (age 18)
Cardiff, Wales
GB3 Championship career
Debut season2022
Current teamJHR Developments
Car number5
Starts47 (48 entries)
Wins2
Podiums9
Poles3
Fastest laps2
Best finish5th in 2023
Previous series
2021F4 British Championship
Championship titles
2021F4 British Championship

Matthew Owain Rees (born 27 July 2005) is a British racing driver from Wales who most recently competed in the GB3 Championship, driving for JHR Developments. He was the 2021 F4 British Championship champion, and is a BRDC Superstar.[1]

Career[edit]

Karting[edit]

Rees competed in various karting championships across the United Kingdom, before he drove in international karting in 2018 and 2019, including in the FIA European Karting Championship and the FIA Karting World Championship.[2]

F4 British Championship[edit]

Rees made his car racing debut in the 2021 F4 British Championship, driving for JHR Developments.[3] He took double pole position at round 1,[4] but finished 13th in race 1 after an unsuccessful tyre gamble.[5] After taking another double pole at the second round at Snetterton Circuit,[6] he converted this into victory in race 1[7] and race 3.[8] He took pole position for race 1 at the third round at Brands Hatch, making it his fifth consecutive pole of the season.[9]

After a quieter middle of the season, Rees took double pole position at the penultimate round at Donington Park,[10] and converted it into wins in the first[11] and third race.[12] Entering the final round of the season in the championship lead,[13] Rees finished in the top 5 in all three races, enough to seal the overall title and rookie title.[14]

GB3 Championship[edit]

2022[edit]

On 12 January 2022, it was announced that Rees would step up to the 2022 GB3 Championship, driving again for JHR Developments.[15] He finished third in his debut race,[16] and took two other podiums finished across the season, including a win at Brands Hatch,[17] and pole at the same weekend after Tom Lebbon received a grid penalty from the previous round.[18] He finished 6th in the standings.

2023[edit]

Rees re-signed with JHR Developments for the 2023 GB3 Championship.[19]

Karting record[edit]

Karting career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Position
2014 Super 1 MSA British IAME Cadet Karting Championship Soixante Racing Team 35th
2015 Super 1 National IAME Cadet Championship CKS 30th
2016 LGM Series - IAME Cadet 15th
Super 1 National IAME Cadet Championship AIM Motorsport 9th
ABkC British Open Championship - IAME Cadet 9th
2017 LGM Series - IAME Cadet 13th
Super 1 National IAME Cadet Championship 6th
2018 CIK-FIA European Junior Championship - OK Ricky Flynn Motorsport 34th
CIK-FIA Karting World Championship - Junior 20th
German Junior Kart Championship - OK Junior 13th
23° South Garda Winter Cup - OK Junior 19th
WSK Final Cup - OK Junior 14th
2019 CIK-FIA Karting European Championship - OK Junior KR Motorsport
WSK Champions Cup - Junior
WSK Super Masters Series - OK Junior 13th
24° South Garda Winter Cup - OK Junior 23rd

Racing record[edit]

Racing career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2021 F4 British Championship JHR Developments 30 4 7 3 10 331 1st
2022 GB3 Championship JHR Developments 24 1 1 2 3 310.5 6th
Prototype Challenge - Radical Valour Performance Technology 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2023 GB3 Championship JHR Developments 23 1 3 2 6 370 5th
2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain Team Parker Racing

Complete F4 British Championship results[edit]

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2021 JHR Developments THR1
1

13
THR1
2

13
THR1
3

5
SNE
1

1
SNE
2

12
SNE
3

1
BHI
1

910
BHI
2

2
BHI
3

4
OUL
1

2
OUL
2

99
OUL
3

5
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

14
KNO
3

3
THR2
1

9
THR2
2

76
THR2
3

5
CRO
1

3
CRO
2

123
CRO
3

5
SIL
1

2
SIL
2

NC
SIL
3

Ret
DON
1

1
DON
2

79
DON
3

1
BHGP
1

5
BHGP
2

56
BHGP
3

4
1st 331

Complete GB3 Championship results[edit]

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2022 JHR Developments OUL
1

3
OUL
2

4
OUL
3

16
SIL1
1

12
SIL1
2

8
SIL1
3

Ret
DON1
1

8
DON1
2

6
DON1
3

713
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

4
SNE
3

127
SPA
1

DSQ
SPA
2

7
SPA
3

15
SIL2
1

8
SIL2
2

6
SIL2
3

66
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

3
BRH
3

132
DON2
1

17
DON2
2

6
DON2
3

96
6th 310.5
2023 JHR Developments OUL
1

2
OUL
2

11
OUL
3

1410
SIL1
1

3
SIL1
2

7
SIL1
3

23
SPA
1

Ret
SPA
2

9
SPA
3

Ret
SNE
1

2
SNE
2

4
SNE
3

186
SIL2
1

1
SIL2
2

2
SIL2
3

C
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

5
BRH
3

128
ZAN
1

6
ZAN
2

7
ZAN
3

145
DON
1

2
DON
2

4
DON
3

138
5th 370

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BRITISH RACING DRIVERS' CLUB CONTINUES TO SUPPORT YOUNG TALENT WITH 2022 SUPERSTARS". The British Racing Drivers’ Club. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Matthew Rees | Young Drivers". The British Racing Drivers’ Club. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. ^ "JHR Developments announce rising star Matthew Rees in their 2021 line-up". The Checkered Flag. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Matthew Rees leads JHR 1-2-3-4 in qualifying for British F4 opener". Formula Scout. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Hedley dominates British F4 opener with tyre gamble at Thruxton". Formula Scout. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  6. ^ "JHR rookie Matthew Rees grabs pole position at Snetterton to continue 2021 hot streak". The Checkered Flag. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  7. ^ "JHR's Matthew Rees dominates British F4's first Snetterton race". Formula Scout. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Matthew Rees dominates Snetterton again to take second win of the weekend and claim second place in the standings". The Checkered Flag. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Matthew Rees takes fifth consecutive British F4 pole". Formula Scout. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Rees leads JHR 1-2 in British F4 qualifying at Donington Park". Formula Scout. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Rees moves level with British F4 lead after lights-to-flag Donington win". Formula Scout. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Matthew Rees dominates third British F4 race at Donington". Formula Scout. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  13. ^ "'It's everyone's dream' - teen racer Matthew Rees eyes British F4 title". BBC Sport. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Rees wins British F4 title with a race to spare". Autosport. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  15. ^ "British F4 champion Matthew Rees steps up to GB3 with JHR". Formula Scout. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Strong opening weekend for Welsh motorsport star Matthew Rees". Wales247. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Matt Rees claims maiden GB3 Championship victory at Brands Hatch". Wales247. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Rees and Lebbon share GB3 spoils in disrupted qualifying". Formula Scout. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  19. ^ Whitfield, Steve (2 February 2023). "Matthew Rees remains in GB3 with JHR Developments". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2 February 2023.

External links[edit]