GB4, the latest single-seater creation by MSV, aims to provide an affordable path up to GB3 and rival the FIA–governed British F4 series. After its inaugural season last year, which saw Nikolas Taylor crowned champion, GB4 returns for another year of competition on all of the UK’s most prestigious race tracks. Here’s everything you need to know about the GB4 Championship in 2023.

By George Brabner

GB4 had a successful opening year in 2022. Racing under the spotlight of GB4’s parent series GB3 and British GT, drivers making their earliest steps into single-seaters were given a chance to prove themselves at a low cost. And whilst Taylor hasn’t yet been announced to continue climbing the motorsport ladder after taking the title last year, those around him have continued to progress in single-seaters.

Of 2022’s full-time drivers, runner-up Jarrod Waberski is making the leap to GB3 with Fortec Motorsport, whilst Jessica Edgar, Megan Gilkes and Chloe Grant step into the new all-female F1 Academy series, Edgar and Gilkes with Rodin Carlin and Grant with ART Grand Prix.

Fast forward to the start of the 2023 season and 15 talented young drivers from eight different teams will be appearing on the GB4 grid in hopes of becoming the series’ second champion.

Calendar and format

GB4 will consist of seven rounds and 21 races in 2023. Whilst that makes the calendar one event smaller than last year, the series will still visit all of the British venues that are known proving grounds for exceptional budding talent, including the host of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone – the second visit which GB4 will co-headline. Here’s the 2023 calendar in full:

• Round 1 – Oulton Park International (7–10 April)
• Round 2 – Silverstone GP (6–7 May)
• Round 3 – Donington Park GP (27–28 May)
• Round 4 – Snetterton 300 (17–18 June)
• Round 5 – Silverstone GP (29–30 July)
• Round 6 – Brands Hatch GP (9–10 September)
• Round 7 – Donington Park GP (21–22 October)

Each round will consist of three races, all of which will be 18 minutes in length. The first two will award 35 points for victory down to one point for 20th place, whilst the third and final race of the weekend will award less: victory becomes worth 20 points down to one point for 15th place. That tally can be increased, though, as each position gained by a driver in the reverse-grid race grants them one extra point.

Reflecting the format of GB3, Race 1 will have its grid set by each driver’s fastest lap time and Race 2 will have its grid formed in order of second-fastest laps. Race 3 will be a full grid reversal – providing you are within 103% of the pole time – and will use each driver’s fastest lap time from qualifying.

The prizes

The GB4 Championship was established by MSV and the BRDC with the aim of creating a more affordable path up the junior single-seater ladder in the UK. To coincide with this overarching goal, the series will offer two monetary prizes for those finding success within the series.

At the end of the season, the champion will receive a £50,000 contribution towards a 2024 GB3 or British Formula 4 ride, boosting their chances of rising through the ranks. Whilst already a great initiative from a series that can cost up to £150,000 per season, GB4 will also award another £4,000 across 2023 as part of the George Russell Pole Position Cup. Drivers will receive £125 per pole position, and the driver with the most total poles at the end of the year will earn an extra £1,000 prize, as will their team.

The car

When it comes to machinery, GB4 will see no change for 2023. With the aim of maximum affordability, the GB4 Championship will continue to use the previous-generation Formula 4 chassis from Tatuus, the Tatuus F4-T014.

Used widely across Formula 4 categories all over the world before the introduction of the Tatuus F4-T421 at the end of the 2021 racing season, the T014 is an incredibly capable chassis that provided excellent racing in the category one year ago.

There will, however, be a variety of technical restrictions placed on teams when operating the F4-T014 – primarily with cost saving in mind – and tyre restrictions will play a role in that. Only six sets of Pirelli tyres will be provided per round, meaning tyre strategy across sessions can play an important role in how an event pans out.

The teams

Fifteen drivers from eight different teams will be out on track at Oulton Park for Round 1 of the 2023 GB4 season. The grid comprises not only larger, higher-profile teams but also grassroots entrants and privateers.

Dylan Hotchin Racing

The only privateer entry on the grid, Dylan Hotchin will be racing under his own team banner: Dylan Hotchin Racing.

After competing in Ford Fiestas for the past few years in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship and Senior Fiesta 240 ST Championship, Hotchin enters the year as an inexperienced single-seater driver. However, of all the places to build a racing career from the ground up, GB4 is the place to do it.

Entering as a privateer, he’ll be not only driving but also working as a mechanic, doing so alongside his father. Hotchin is also supporting young engineering talent through inviting trainees from workplace apprenticeships to be part of the team at race weekends, with further support from British Steel engineers.

Elite Motorsport

Announcing their two drivers just days before Round 1, Elite Motorsport returns to GB4 after finding success in the series last year with full-time driver Jack Sherwood, who finished fifth in the standings.

Harri Reynolds will join the team following two successful seasons in the Ginetta Junior Championship, in which he raced against fellow 2023 GB4 driver Liam McNeilly as well as British F4 drivers Kanato Le and William Macintyre. Reynolds finished fourth in the series last year with three race victories and a further nine podiums to his name for Assetto Motorsport.

Elite’s second entry will be Josh Irfan, who is also competing in British F4 with Rodin Carlin. Whilst he will not be able to make every round on the GB4 calendar because of schedule clashes, he will be making the most of every possible moment of available track time – something that is key early in a racing career.

Evans GP

Just like Elite Motorsport, Evans GP will also be fielding two cars as they make their debut in GB4 this year. The Australian outfit previously competed in the 2021 F3 Asian Championship and the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship before they sold their Asian operation to MP Motorsport ahead of the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship.

Cooper Webster, a Red Bull Racing Esports driver who comes to the UK from success down under in the Australian and Tasman S5000 series, will head the Australian outfit. The early signs of pace from testing have been encouraging for Webster thus far. He was close to Fortec’s Colin Queen and Fox Motorsport’s McNeilly, who have regularly traded the top spot in official testing.

Taiwanese-American driver Thomas Lee will line up alongside Webster for the GB4 season and complete Evans GP’s 2023 line-up. With minimal single-seater experience and most of his track time coming from GT racing, Lee will face an uphill battle, particularly at the beginning of the season. However, Lee already has a close relationship with Evans GP through having worked closely with the team as a sponsor.

Fortec Motorsport

One of the key players in GB4 last season, Fortec Motorsport look to build on the success they found in 2022 with Taylor, Edgar and part-time driver Elias Adestam.

Colin Queen, who won the National Formula Ford shoot-out to win a prize of £20,000 towards his GB4 campaign, has looked fast throughout pre-season testing thus far, topping the timing sheets on multiple occasions across the winter. Signed with one of the UK’s strongest single-seater teams, Queen is a likely candidate for strong results this year.

Next to Queen at Fortec Motorsport will be karting graduates Aditya Kulkarni and Ruhaan Alva. India’s Alva enjoyed his first piece of competitive single-seater racing in the fourth round of F4 UAE last season and also represented his home country in the Formula 4 Cup of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games.

Fox Motorsport

Whilst Fox Motorsport may be new to single-seaters, they are no strangers to success. The team have won races in a variety of GT series and the Ginetta Junior Championship, the competition from which both of their 2023 drivers graduate.

Liam McNeilly picked up two wins and another six podiums for Fox Motorsport in the Ginetta Junior Championship last year, taking him to third in the standings behind only Macintyre and champion Josh Rowledge. McNeilly has traded top spots with Fortec’s Colin Queen in testing and should be fighting near the sharp end of the field this season.

Also at Fox Motorsport will be Sid Smith, who likewise spent time with the team in the Ginetta Junior Championship last year. Smith also won the BRSCC Fiesta Junior series that year too, making him one to watch for the 2023 season.

Graham Brunton Racing

After running an all-female lineup with Grant and Logan Hannah last season, Graham Brunton Racing becomes a one-car entry for the start of 2023 with Harry Burgoyne Jnr – son of multiple Stock Car World Championship winner Harry Burgoyne Snr.

The Scotsman makes the step up from karting after finding success on both national and international levels, notably taking third place in the CIK-FIA OKJ World Championship in 2020. He has been out on track at Oulton Park and Donington Park for pre-season testing and will be receiving the support of Max Marzorati.

KMR Sport

Previously known as Kevin Mills Racing, KMR Sport are the reigning GB4 teams’ champions. After finding success with Tom Mills and Waberski last year, the team are looking to replicate that success with confirmed drivers Jeremy Fairbairn and Jack Clifford.

Florida-born Fairbairn comes to GB4 from the United States motorsport scene. He finished sixth for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports in USF Juniors last season, two years after taking three victories and finishing second overall in the 2020 YACademy Winter Series.

Clifford, who comes to Europe from Australia, moves up from the Australian Formula Ford scene, where he took multiple victories and podiums through 2021 and 2022. So far this Winter, he and Fairbairn have appeared to be closely matched on track.

Mills, who won multiple races in the 2022 GB4 season, will also appear at Oulton Park for KMR Sport. The helmsman of the team’s third car has already made an impact after topping the timing sheets on his only day of pre-season testing at Donington Park.

Oldfield Motorsport

Established Formula Ford team Oldfield Motorsport successfully – albeit briefly – stepped up to GB4 last season with Lucas Romanek, who won the reverse-grid race at Silverstone in his only appearance of the season. Heading into 2023, the team will be entering one full-time driver, Jason Conzo.

The American has already raced in multiple club-level series in the USA, competing in cars such as the Ford Spec Racer 3 and the single-seater Formula Enterprise 2. He’d find particular success in the FE2 machine, taking a huge volume of victories and podiums last year to be crowned the Sports Car Club of America Northeast Conference Majors champion in the FE2 class.

Despite his success across the pond, Conzo will be facing a completely different challenge across the pond in GB4.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect that Tom Mills was confirmed at KMR Sport and Aditya Kulkarni was confirmed at Fortec Motorsport on 6 April 2023.

Header photo credit: Jakob Ebrey