Fifteen-year-old Jaden Pariat will be joining the 2022 ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA series for the remaining two race weekends, lining up alongside Jack Sherwood in the Chris Dittmann Racing team.
After a promising career in karting, which included becoming the first Indian rookie to score a point on his debut in the Meco FMSCI X30 National championship, Pariat moved into the MRF Challenge FLGB 1300, and the JK Tyre Championship.
The start of 2022 saw the Indian driver test MRF 1600 AND F2000 cars, plus experience in the Tatuus T-421 which is used for Formula 4 championships around the world, including the British championship.
This coming weekend will see Pariat make his F4 British debut as he hopes to make the most of the final two race weekends of the series.
“I got into motorsport two years ago, and I was mainly influenced by my dad, Atikur, who is a national champion in rallying. We’ve been having fun with cars together since I was a kid, and my original goal was to become a rally driver because of him, but since my dad has already experienced that, I thought I should try something new.” said Pariat.
“I started with karting and since then have become vice-champion in the Meco FMSCI X30 National Karting Championship, and then moved onto a series called FLGB 1300, which is similar to Formula Ford here, where I became vice champion too after winning on my debut.
“This year I did some testing in MRF 1600 and F2000, before deciding to try something new overseas. To progress, you need to learn from people who are better than you, so that’s why I’m here. I’m learning a lot and I’ve been pretty happy with where we are now. The testing has helped prepared me a little better for British F4. There is still lots to learn, but physically, I’m not facing any difficulties.
“I definitely have big goals, so hopefully we can achieve some good results. I have high expectations for myself, but ultimately this is a learning experience and something we can use to help us build a solid basis for the future.”
Team owner Chris Dittmann explained how the opportunity came about for the team to bring Pariat onboard, “We’ve been speaking to Jaden for about a month, through a contact of ours, Racekraft, in India. He’s very keen to get some mileage in the new F4 car, and with the opportunity there for the last two rounds of the season, it was a great time for him to come and learn in the right environment.
“We’ve been fortunate to get a few test days with Jaden already in the last few weeks and we’ve been pretty impressed. The chemistry has been there from the outset, and we’ve been working together well, so now we’re just looking forward to the last few rounds to see what we can do.
“There’s been a lot of preparation on the simulator before each test date which has been key to fine tune things before going out on track. He’ll be coming into the championship on the back foot compared to most of the drivers, but he’s up for the challenge.”
With the recent announcements of new names on the grid this weekend at Silverstone, the F4 British Championship is set to feature its biggest grid in six years. The series is busy testing today (22 September) on the Silverstone National circuit as they get ready for the upcoming race weekend.
