Zandvoort resident Bas Visser will make his car racing debut in the GB4 Championship at Silverstone this weekend (27/28 April), with the Graham Brunton Racing team.
Visser graduates to single-seaters with only modest karting experience under his belt in his homeland, having raced and won predominantly in categories operated by Formula Karting in the Netherlands, including the Dutch Rental Kart Championship. As well as his karting exploits, the 17-year-old has tested F4 specification machinery over the last year, and sampled a GB4 car for the first time at the Oulton Park pre-season test with the team in March.
At the Cheshire circuit, Visser showed plenty of promise, as he improved his lap times by more than eight seconds across just three sessions of running, at one of the most challenging layouts on the calendar. He now makes the step up to car racing with the Scottish squad for the remainder of the season, joining rising Canadian stars Callum Baxter and Mayer Deonarine in the capacity three-car line-up.
Bas Visser said: “For me it is a great honour to become part of this amazing team in the GB4 Championship. From the very first moment, they have made me part of the Graham Brunton Racing family.
“I’m really excited to make my debut at an iconic track like Silverstone and I’m looking forward to the cooperation with the team. During this season I hope to get more and more used to the British way of racing, on and around the track.”
Team Manager Craig Brunton said: “We are excited to start working with Bas. He took part in a young driver development test earlier this year with us and has kept in touch.
“He’s gathered support from sponsors and is now taking the next steps to compete with us in the GB4 Championship. He showed good natural skill in his tests in challenging conditions and impressed us with his work ethic. He put a lot into the tests with us, using sim work as his main tool.
“He completes our three-car team with a truly international flavour. We can’t wait to get started at Silverstone with him.”