Spaniard Marc Gonzalez will make his Duo BRDC Formula 4 debut at Snetterton this weekend (11/12 July) with Sean Walkinshaw Racing, following a successful test at the Norfolk track last month. The 17-year-old, who is part of the Oucinde Racing Management stable headed by Mariano Oucinde, will join the team’s regular drivers, Jordan Albert and Zubair Hoque, to form a three-car attack for rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the 2015 season.
The Catalan teenager has a strong karting pedigree on the domestic, European and World stages, having started racing at the Cadet level in his native region in 2009. He soon stepped up to the national Spanish championship before progressing into the Spanish KF3 Championship in 2011, a year in which he also achieved third in the Viana do Castelo in Portugal.
For 2012, Gonzalez contested the WSK Euro Series before moving into the Rotax Winter Cup, Mojo Iberian Cup and European Rotax the following year. He was rewarded for his strong performances with a drive in the World Rotax Grand Final held in New Orleans in the USA. He continued racing in the Rotax categories for 2014 before focusing his attention on graduating to cars.
His Formula 4 debut will also mark his first race appearance in a single-seater category, although Gonzalez has previously tested Formula 3-spec machinery with a EuroFormula Open team. Although the deal with Gonzalez is only currently for this weekend’s races at Snetterton, the team is confident of retaining the Spaniard into the second half of the season alongside its other two drivers.
SWR Team Owner Sean Walkinshaw commented: “It’s great to have signed Marc for Snetterton. He is a young driver with a lot of promise and he did a good job at last month’s test at Snetterton. It’s going to be a big step-up for him, his first races in single-seaters and first time racing in the UK, but we feel confident he will deliver some strong performances.
“The main thing is for Marc to learn as much as he possibly can, work closely with Jordan and Zubair, and keep building and making progress throughout the weekend. It’s fantastic for SWR to be back up to three cars at Snetterton too and we are very pleased.”
