Due to an injury sustained at last weekend’s Zolder 24 Hours, Elite Motorsport’s Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso will miss this weekend’s GB4 race event at Donington Park.
Replacing the Venezuelan in the #5 Elite Motorsport car will be Belgian driver Yani Stevenheydens.
The 20-year-old already races with the team in the GT4 European Series, and has prior single-seater experience in F4 and Eurocup-3. He was the 2024 French F4 runner-up.
“It was very last minute!” Stevenheydens commented. “Only yesterday morning I found out that I was driving myself. Normally I'm always here with Emmilio, helping him out as a driver coach. But unfortunately, due to the injuries sustained, he can't really make it out in a safe way, so we decided that it was my time to jump in.
“It’s a very last minute thing, I’ve almost never driven GB4 before, I’ve never been around Donington, so there'll be a big learning curve, but at the same time it’s good to help the team out of it.”
Stevenheydens was inside the top-10 in yesterday’s test, which was his first proper go in a Tatuus MSV GB4-025 car, having only ever completed a shakedown beforehand.
“I did one day, but like 10 laps, just testing the cars to see if everything was working. So I've never pushed the car before. So we're still learning, yesterday I didn't even know how to get it into neutral again! But it's going very well, yesterday I was already inside the top 10 while not going on any new tyres.”
While an almost total newcomer to the GB4 car, Stevenheydens' experience means he should be in the mix for strong results this weekend.
“At the same time it's fun, but I also want to perform, of course. Having the experience from F4, EuroCup 3, higher championships, for sure, we want to get some podiums in and help the team out with as many championship points as possible.”
Del Grosso will remain with the team at the circuit this weekend, and is aiming to return to GB4 action at next Thursday's test day at Brands Hatch.
