Johannesburg - South African karting stars Jonathan Aberdein and Eugene Deneyssen will move up to the racing big leagues this year, with each signed on for full seasons in European Formula 4 Championships.
Jonathan, son of former SA race ace Chris Aberdein, raced karts under his dad’s watchful eye as he developed as a top driver over the past six seasons, culminating not just in last year’s triple Rotax titles, but also strong showings in the European Rotax Max championship and World Finals.
He’ll be racing under Team Motorpark in the ADAC German Formula 4 series against the likes of Mick Schumacher and other famous names in eight rounds this year, at tracks in Germany, Austria and Holland starting at Oschersleben on April 17.
Nineteen-year old Deneyssen made his kart debut in 2009, winning the Mini Max Rookie of the Year award before taking fourth in 2010’s SA Mini Max championship. Stepping up, Eugene was third in the 2011 SA Junior Max title race before taking double South African and Western Province Junior Max titles in 2012. He then represented South Africa in the Junior Rok, Junior Max and Senior Max Karting World Finals, before moving up to the main circuit in the 2014 SA Formula Ford series.
Eugene will contest this year’s BRDC British Formula 4 Championship with Team SWR. He is currently in the UK testing a new Taatus-Cosworth Formula 4 racer in preparation for the new season.
“There’s still a lot to learn,” says Eugene. “Some tracks don’t have much run-off and the weather is pretty bad, which makes it difficult to push, but I'm learning the car quickly. My pace is good and we still have testing at Snetterton and Spa in Belgium, so we should be ready and I’m hoping to be in the top ten early in the season.”
Deneyssen’s first BRDC Formula 4 race will be at Snetterton in England over the last weekend of March.