Ginetta Junior alumni Tom Jackson will make his single-seater debut this season, signing a deal with Chris Dittmann Racing to compete in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship.
The Kent-based racer finished fifth overall in the 2013 Ginetta Junior Championship, his second season in the BTCC-supporting series.
Jackson was a regular front-runner in his final campaign, securing fourteen top-five finishes in the twenty races, with four podium finishes including a career-best result of second on two occasions.
The 17 year old will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Ginetta Junior adversary Charlie Robertson, who finished third overall in BRDC F4 last season in his first season of single-seaters.
“I’m delighted to be racing in the BRDC F4 Championship in 2014,” said the 17 year old. “I tested with Chris Dittmann Racing at Brands Hatch in November and found I worked really well with the team and feel I adapted really well to the car.
“Last year showed that drivers can step out of Ginetta Juniors and be competitive straight away, and hope to follow this example to be running at the front and aiming for podiums and wins with Chris Dittmann Racing.”
Chris Dittmann Racing had a stop/start 2013 F4 campaign. Luke Williams only completed three weekends with them, while Dylon Phibbs and Max Cornelius made one-off appearances with the team.
The team did mount a full Winter Championship run though with Fredrik Johansen, and team principal Chris Dittmann is delighted to follow that up with a full campaign with Jackson.
“It’s fantastic to confirm Tom as our first signed driver for 2014,” added Dittmann. “He adapted very quickly to the car and also formed a great relationship with the team. He demonstrated very good pace and listened to the all the advice we gave him.
“I’m sure with our support he can continue to develop well and he will be running at the front of the F4 field before too long.”
Jackson is the second 2013 Ginetta Junior graduate to move into the series full-time this year, with Will Palmer previously announced at HHC Motorsport.