Sauber F1 driver Ericsson's brother to make car-racing debut in F4
The younger brother of Sauber Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson will join the British F4 grid for the second round of the season at Donington Park
Hampus Ericsson, 15, will take part in Formula 4's Challenge Cup with Fortec Motorsport - with which Marcus began his career in Formula BMW UK in 2007, pictured below - after testing with the outfit at the end of last year.
The Challenge Cup is a new initiative for 2017 that allows drivers to contest up to seven meetings of the 10-event F4 season on a limited budget and with testing restrictions.
"This year is very much a learning year," said Ericsson, who will be making his car-racing debut on April 15/16.
"It will be my first year racing in cars, but I like the idea of returning in 2018 to fight for the championship.
"At the moment I'm not looking too far ahead in my career beyond British F4.
"I need to take things one step at a time, but it would be nice to be overtaking my brother Marcus in a Formula 1 race one day."
Ericsson is being mentored by Volvo tin-top star Fredrik Ekblom, who worked extensively with Fortec boss Richard Dutton in his single-seater days in the 1990s, and ex-Formula 2 race winner Eje Elgh.
"For someone who'd never driven a car in his life he did a good job [in testing] at Valencia," Dutton told Autosport.
"Marcus will come over when he can, and it'll be great to see him because he started his career with us. Also, working again with Fredrik is great."
The 2017 British F4 season began at Brands Hatch last weekend with Carlin driver Jamie Caroline taking two wins and Arden's Ayrton Simmons winning the other race.
Fortec's only entry for the opening event was Oliver York, but the team is set to return to running four cars later in the year.
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