American duo Zack Ping and Erik Evans will join the GB4 Championship with series newcomers VRD Racing this weekend (29/30 July) at Silverstone, with the squad having purchased the final two Tatuus F4-T014 cars available from series organisers MotorSport Vision (MSV) for their new venture.
American driver Ping, brother of GB3 race-winner Noah, has so far been competing in the USF2000 Championship with the team in the USA, his first campaign of single-seater racing.
Before that, the 18-year-old had taken podium finishes in the Radical Cup North America series in 2021, and competed in the World Racing League sports car series last year, winning the GP1 national championship class, while also taking victories in the SCCA Spec Racer and P2 categories.
The GB4 triple header at Silverstone will mark his first races in Europe, and Ping tested the car for two days at Donington Park last week. He will contest the remainder of the 2023 GB4 season with the team.
Ping said: “I'm really excited. I've never raced in Europe before, I've only tested once at Donington so I'm not really sure what to expect. I'm really excited to get out there, learn a new track and a new car. I've heard the racing is a lot better here in England, we've had some complicated things over in America and I'm looking forward to a fresh start, a new series and new opportunities.”
20-year-old Evans meanwhile has links with the team dating back to 2020, when he contested the F4 USA Championship, taking a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway and podiums at Sebring and the Circuit of the Americas, with the relationship extending into USF2000 for the following season.
Since then, Evans has carved out a strong sports car career, making the move into the British GT Championship at the end of last year, and embarking on a full campaign in 2023. At the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT4, Evans has already taken podiums at Oulton Park and Silverstone, and sits sixth overall with two races remaining. Evans will race at Silverstone before vacating the seat for another driver for the rest of the year.
Evans said: “I'm really looking forward to it, it's a last minute deal and I was very happy that I got the call to come and do this as I love open wheel cars and I'm glad to be in one. It's a little bit hectic, but I'm super excited for it and I have some experience around this track obviously from the British GT series, so hopefully I'll be able to use some of that and we think we can do quite well this weekend.”
VRD Racing already has a presence inside the paddock thanks to a race-winning GB3 collaboration with Arden, and is one of the USA’s most successful operations in junior single-seaters in recent times, having won titles in USA F4 and earning multiple race victories in USF Juniors, USF2000 and F3 Americas.
VRD Racing Team Owner Daniel Mitchell said: “Drivers in the USA know the importance of gaining experience of racing in the UK, and the GB4 Championship is a great opportunity for us to place some of our American drivers into European competition to give them knowledge of British circuits, before feeding them up into GB3.
“GB4 provides us with an opportunity to do this at a really cost-effective price point, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Zack progresses as the event and the rest of the season goes on. It also gives us a great chance to reunite with Erik once more; we’ve won races with him and he’s pretty handy around Silverstone too!”
27 July 2023
