Petroball confirm Barrichello protg Gaetano di Mauro as first F4 driver

The Brazilian Petroball Racing team have confirmed 17-year-old Gaetano di Mauro as their first driver to compete in the 2014 BRDC F4 Championship.

Hailing from São Paulo, di Mauro is a two time Brazilian champion in Shifter Karts and also claimed victory in the 500 Milhas de Beto Carrero kart race in December 2013, sharing his seat with Brazilian racing legends Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan and Felipe Giaffone.

Barrichello also acts as di Mauro’s advisor, and it is anticipated that the most experienced F1 driver in history will visit some of the F4 rounds that don’t clash with his F1 commentary and Brazilian Stock Car commitments.

Gaetano made his car racing debut in 2013 and was champion in the regional Sprint Race prototype series in Brazil alongside Guilherme Salas, the pair winning seven of the 16 races.

In addition to karting, di Mauro also participated in the 2013 Formula 3 Sudamericana, and was classified eighth overall in Class B, despite only competing in four of the 18 races.

“I am still dreaming about it all” di Mauro enthused. “Everything moved very fast in 2013, winning kart and car championships and winning the race with Rubens Barrichello. 2014 has started in the same way, signing with Petroball Racing to race in the fantastic BRDC F4 series in the UK. I could not be happier and am looking forward to repaying the faith they have in me.”

Petroball Team Principal Jose Roberto Sabathe commented: “We are very happy to have signed Gaetano di Mauro to be our first driver in the 2014 BRDC F4 Championship. As we follow the same philosophy of the series, it is important to give opportunities to new young Brazilian talents, and Gaetano is surely one of them. In the next week we also expect to sign our second driver, who will most likely come from the USA.”

Petroball have now set up their headquarters in Milton Keynes, as well as purchasing a house in the area for their drivers. The team collected their two new cars from Bedford Autodrome yesterday (Monday 3 March) and will have the cars on display at the MSVR Media Day at Brands Hatch tomorrow (Wednesday 5 March).


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