Cem Bölükbaşı Steps Up to Formula 3
Following his esports world championship titles, Cem Bölükbaşı has spent the past two seasons building a successful career on real circuits as a professional racing driver, and he has made a fast start to 2021. Bölükbaşı is preparing to complete the first full-season Formula championship of his career by entering the Formula 3 Asian Championship, which will run over a total of 15 races. Driving for BlackArts Racing Team in F3 Asia, Bölükbaşı will gain significant racing experience.
Opening race in Dubai
The opening round of F3 Asia will take place in Dubai on 29-30 January, with three races over the first weekend. Three races each will also be held at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi on 4-5 February and 6-7 February. Bölükbaşı, who will start the season in the same team as successful drivers Lorenzo Fluxa, Zdenek Chovanec and Rafael Villagomez, will complete three races in each of the final two rounds, held on 12-14 February and 19-20 February, to finish with 15 single-seater races in total. The races can be watched live on F3 Asia's YouTube channel.
Sharing his pre-season excitement, Bölükbaşı said: “I am one step closer to my dream of representing my country in Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport. I am very happy. I thank everyone who has been by my side in my story of moving from the virtual world to real circuits. I would also like to give special thanks to Doğuş Group, which supports many sports such as basketball and sailing and helps young athletes from our country develop in these fields, for trusting me on this exciting journey and for backing me as title sponsor and enabling me to represent my country.”
Moving steadily towards the top of motorsport
The young driver had his first F3 experience in 2019 at round nine of the Formula Renault Eurocup at Hockenheim, and drew attention with that first successful single-seater performance. Closely followed by the authorities as one of the most successful and rare examples worldwide of a move from esports to real racing, Bölükbaşı shared a car in the GT4 European Series in 2019 and 2020 with Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport (BOM), finishing the 2020 season on the podium in second place in the Pro-Am class with the BOM team.
