Bold UK Leap for Aussie Young Gun

James Piszcyk has taken all before him in the Australian Formula Ford series this season, but has elected to follow his open wheel goals to the UK where he hopes to race in the British F4 series next year.

Piszcyk, 16 years-old, chose to forgo the final round of the championship which he leads by 11 points to test for Hitech GP, the team that won last seasons British F4 Championship.

AUTO ACTION spoke with Piszcyk who was preparing for another day of testing at the Snetterton circuit in Norwich, UK, about how the opportunity came knocking.

“At first we were put into contact with Dominic Stott, the Hitech GP Team Manager in England, and after a lot of back and forth we were then put into contact with Adam Gotch, who runs the AGI Sport F4 program over here,” Piszcyk explained.

“That was their way of sussing me out in an F4 I guess, and then we got invited to come here to the UK by Hitech.”

The Open Wheel young gun has high hopes of competing in the UK next year, revealing the inner drive that led him to taking this chance.

“We looked at what we could have done in Australia after Formula Ford, and my passion and goals really are for the open wheelers, so we came to the conclusion that our best move was to look to England where they have great F4 programmes,” he continued.

“I’ve not done any racing with wings and big downforce yet, and I wanted the challenge to learn that kind of race craft over here.

“So far we’ve tested at Croft (Yorkshire) and Pembrey (Wales), and then they confirmed two official driver test days for me here in Snetterton.

“It’s been an amazing experience, I absolutely love driving with slick tyres. They’re pretty fast cars to be honest, a lot faster than what I expected. It kind of feels like you’re in an F1 with the halo and the really cool cockpit. 

“The experience in the Formula Ford’s has made the transition pretty smooth for me, in terms of the braking and stuff. I’m definitely still getting my head around it, but I felt really prepared through my experiences back home. 

“The feedback from the team here has been really positive. They know I’m getting my head around it, but they said that they like what they’ve seen progress wise, and that I’ve been performing to their liking.

Piszcyk raced to the top of the championship standings in his CHE racing #93 Mygale SJ13

For a young man with big goals and the skill to get himself there, the choice to not finish the season and opt for overseas testing at a high level F4 team seems a bold but logical choice. It was met with some shock within the Formula Ford community and his team at CHE racing, but Piszcyk is extremely grateful for how they prepared him to make this leap.

“It was a really difficult decision to miss the final. Che Racing really developed me as a driver and they’ve helped so much in my career, and I couldn’t thank them enough honestly,” he related.

“Ultimately it led me to being in this position, of choosing to have this option. It could have gone either way, but I looked into my future and thought this would be more beneficial for next year, to learn more about the car to prepare myself for what’s to come.”

“They had a right to be disappointed and there was a lot of back and forth. We worked really hard to be in the fight for the championship…it’s hard to talk about actually, because I wouldn’t be here without their help, it really meant a lot to me.

Piszcyk is one of a few young Australians that are in the European F4 scene, with Costa Toparis with the Carlin F4 team in the UK, and Hugh Barter in the Spanish and French F4 with team Campos.

“It’s funny actually, me and Costa had never really spent much time together, but we crossed paths at the last round of the British F4 Championship at Brands Hatch GP circuit and said G’day. It was cool to see a somewhat familiar face.”

The future of Australian open wheel racing is in very good, very young, yet mature hands for their ages. The steely focus and aim towards their goals is clear across the board with these kids, and may provide motorsport fans with a great deal of entertainment and international success in the near future.

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of Auto Action.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.