Aspiring Czech driver Petr Ptacek will graduate to the Italian F4 Championship in 2018 after joining the BhaiTech Racing squad.

The 15-year-old (pictured above with BhaiTech team manager, Nicolò Gaglian) will move onto the Italian F4 grid after enjoying a race-winning season as a rookie in karting's premier gearbox category, KZ2.
The youngster was a factory driver with the Formula K team and regularly gave away at least four years' of KZ2 experience to his rivals during 2017.
As well as recording success at domestic level in Germany and Italy, Petr was an impressive performer in the CIK-FIA European KZ2 Championship and he also finished 20th out of 113 drivers at the prestigious CIK-FIA KZ2 International Super Cup.
Having only just celebrated his 15th birthday, Petr is likely to be one of the youngest drivers on the Italian F4 Championship grid in 2018. But he's ready for the challenge.
"It will definitely be a big move from karts into cars, but I always like a challenge," he said. "I did a two-day test with BhaiTech at Adria recently and I was immediately comfortable in the car and competitive against the other rookies.
"For sure, the 2018 season will be a big test but I'm happy to be making this progression in my career and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity."
Petr expects that making the step from a highly-tuned KZ2 gearbox kart to an Italian F4 Championship chassis will take some getting used to. But he's happy that he'll have the support of the engineers at BhaiTech, the team that won the Italian F4 Teams' Championship in 2017.
He said: "It's quite a difference moving to a single-seater car because everything happens much slower for the driver – but it's definitely not easier. BhaiTech won the championship this season and clearly have a lot of experience. That will be really important for me and their support has been fantastic from day one."
BhaiTech team manager Nicolò Gaglian said: "We are delighted to join forces with Petr, a driver who has impressed us for the professionalism shown despite his young age.
"He will go through a long series of tests, simulator runs and gym workouts to enable him to be in the best possible shape approaching the 2018 Italian Formula 4 Championship. We are working hard for next season and soon we will be announcing our full roster."
Petr's bid for success in the Italian F4 Championship will be supported by Eterna Watches, Bell Helmets, OMP Racing and Xeramic in 2018.

Source: Petr Ptacek media