British-born racer Aditya Kulkarni has signed with front-running GB3 Championship team Hillspeed for the 2024 season, which begins at Oulton Park in Cheshire this weekend (30 March/1 April).
The multiple GB4 Championship podium finisher, who has Indian heritage, established a highly successful karting career prior to stepping-up into single-seater racing last year, and ended his rookie car racing season in a highly creditable fifth place in the driver's standings.
Now joining Markham Vale’s Hillspeed squad for his maiden campaign in the UK’s premier single-seater championship, Harrow-based Kulkarni is looking forward to adapting as quickly as he can to GB3, albeit with minimal pre-season testing under his belt.
The 16-year-old, who was born in London, only started out his motorsport journey a few years ago but immediately impressed in karting – winning the 2021 Junior TKM Karting crown as well as that year’s ‘O’ Plate title in the British Open Championship. Additionally, he is a past TKM Festival winner and was a top-10 finisher in the British Karting Championship in 2021 and 2022.
Hillspeed claimed a total of five race victories in GB3 last year, the joint-most of any team in the series.
Kulkarni will be sponsored for his debut season in GB3 by RCKitout.com, with additional partners to be confirmed as the campaign progresses. His first official test runs in his new Hillspeed GB3 car will come this Thursday, 28th March, and Friday, 29th March, at Oulton Park.
Aditya Kulkarni said: “It’s always been a goal of mine to progress further in single-seaters, so to do that in a series of this calibre [GB3] whilst being one of the youngest drivers on the grid gives me a lot of confidence for the year ahead. I’m especially looking forward to the season being with Hillspeed, I felt confident in the car and the people around me straight away. I’m sure we’re going to have a good year together.”
Hillspeed Team Principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “It’s fantastic news for us to have signed such a promising and talented young racer as Adi for his maiden season in GB3. He had a great first season in cars in GB4 last year and I’m confident the key focus we have on driver development at Hillspeed will help him in, what will be, a big new challenge.
“This is obviously a very late deal, so Adi will be using the first few rounds to find his feet in GB3 and to learn the car as quickly as he can. Without undertaking any pre-season testing the challenge will be even greater, but we have confidence in his ability and we’re looking forward to providing him with an environment which nurtures that and helps develop his speed and racecraft.”