Brooke House student Liu is living the dream with new team

Jacky Liu shows off his car for the 2017 season

The new outfit held their opening ceremony at Harborough Town Football Club’s Bowdens Park home and were pleased to announce Chinese teenager Jacky Liu as their driver.

The 17-year-old from Shenzhen – who is a student at Brooke House College – said: “This is a dream come true.

“I have come to British F4 from China because the standard is so much higher here.

“I hadn’t seen the car before it was unveiled so I was just as excited to see it as everyone else. I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited. I love this car. The design is awesome.

“I did a test before the winter testing ban when I did 150 laps at Blyton Park, but it was in the wet so I’m hoping for some dry running.”

GW Motorsport boss and team owner Gary Ward added: “We’re hopeful we can do a really good job this year.

“We’ve got a lot to learn and we are up against the best teams with the likes of Carlin, Fortec and Arden.

“I really rate this championship. I love the Ford EcoBoost-powered engines and the cars themselves. They look awesome. I’ve worked with all sorts of race cars in my career, but the British F4 car is lovely to work on.”

GW Motorsport are a new addition to the British F4 grid, yet both the team and in particular Ward who has had a long racing career are no strangers to on-track success with a wealth of experience with karting, F3, Formula 3000 and F1 machinery.

Liu’s rapid rate of progression thanks to GW Motorsport’s tutelage is something which has really pleased Ward.

He is keen to take another driver under his wing for the 2017 season with a second Ford EcoBoost-powered racer ready at the team’s Northamptonshire base.

“This time last year Jacky was karting and he’s come so far since then under our guidance. We’ve worked very hard and we’ve made so much progress.

“We’ve also got a few other drivers on our books who are working their way up the ranks in karting and one will hopefully make the step up to British F4 next year.”

Liu and GW Motorsport will begin their pre-season testing programme in the second official test of the today (Thursday) at Brands Hatch.