Fortec Motorsport is pleased to announce Aditya Kulkarni will graduate to the GB4 Championship for the 2023 season with the team.
Kulkarni joins the Daventry-based team from the Wera Tools British Karting Championships, where he most recently placed seventh in a bumper 73-driver field in Junior Rotax.
The 15-year-old’s promising CV also includes front-running performances in the Kartmasters Cup, Rotax Festival and, further back, ‘O’ plate title success in Junior TKM back in 2021. Kulkarni also won the TKM Festival that year, becoming only the second ever driver to manage the feat in the same season.
Now, he joins Colin Queen and Ruhaan Alva in Fortec’s GB4 line-up on the eve of the season opener, which takes place at Oulton Park this weekend [8-10 April].
“I’m really excited to be making the step up to the GB4 Championship this year,” says Kulkarni.
“I started in karting quite late, and I’ve also had to miss a lot of pre-season testing this year, so I’m very thankful for the last-minute opportunity to make the step into single seaters.
“Even better for me, I’m with one of the best teams in the country in Fortec Motorsport, and their driver development programme will definitely help me to make up for lost time. I’m very excited for this next step in my career and can’t wait to share it with all my fans.”
The track record for producing motorsport stars at Kulkarni’s new home is proven. A cursory glance at Fortec’s Hall of Fame throws up several of the sport’s leading names – Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, Stoffel Vandoorne, Marcus Ericsson, Sam Bird and, further back, the likes of Juan-Pablo Montoya and Heikki Kovalainen.
Team Principal Oliver Dutton welcomed Kulkarni to the fold, as the team prepares to successfully defend the GB4 title it won with Nikolas Taylor during the championship’s inaugural season in 2022.
“It’s fantastic to be able to welcome Aditya to the Fortec family,” says Dutton.
“Considering how late he came into racing, his karting record is incredibly impressive, and we think with our in-house team, we can bring Aditya on and develop him into a front-running driver.
“As a team, we’re very much aiming to retain the GB4 title we won last season, and I’m sure Aditya will have a crucial part to play in that.”
Designed as a lower-cost, accessible route into single seaters on the UK’s unrivalled platform for development, GB4 features the one-make Tatuus TF-014, powered by a 1.4-litre, turbocharged Autotechnica engine on Pirelli tyres.
An enviable prize package also features, amongst others, £50,000 to the champion to put towards a drive in either GB3 or ROKiT British F4 for the following season. All rounds of the GB4 Championship are broadcast live on MSV TV’s YouTube channel.
