17-year-old Gaetano di Mauro joins Petroball Racing for the F4 championship in 2014.
di Mauro is the protégé of ex-Formula 1 front runner Rubens Barrichello, who acts as his mentor, and the pair teamed up with Tony Kanaan and Felipe Giaffone to win the 500 Milhas de Beto Carrero Kart race in December 2013.
The youngster from Sao Paulo also competed in Formula 3 Sudamericana last year and is relishing his first opportunity in Europe.
“I am still dreaming about it all. Everything moved very fast in 2013, winning kart and car championships and winning the race with Rubens Barrichello,” he said.
di Mauro and mentor 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.”
The Brazilian is the first driver to be confirmed by Petroball for their inaugural campaign in the series. Team principal Jose Roberto Sabathe confirmed that di Mauro’s team mate is likely to come from overseas.
“We are very happy to have signed Gaetano di Mauro to be our first driver in the 2014 BRDC F4 Championship.
“In the next week we also expect to sign our second driver, who will most likely come from the USA.”
The Petroball team will be on display at the MSVR media day at Brands Hatch on 3 March.
