Australian rising star Noah Lisle has been unveiled as the first confirmed entry at reigning champions JHR Developments for the 2022 ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA season.
The teenager from Western Australia makes the switch to Britain’s FIA Formula 4 series from karting, the latter stages of which were hampered for Lisle by the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant restrictions back home, which prevented him from travelling overseas to compete.
Since the easing of those restrictions, Lisle has spent an extensive period over the winter with Steven Hunter’s outfit, adjusting to the brand-new Tatuus T-421, complete with Abarth engine and control tyres from Pirelli, as well as getting crucial mileage in at an array of the UK’s premier circuits.
For Lisle, following in the footsteps of countless motorsport stars – Ayrton Senna, Jenson Button, Lando Norris and fellow countrymen Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri to name a few – in choosing the UK for his first steps on the FIA Single Seater pathway was a natural move.
“A lot of hard thinking has gone into this,” explains Lisle.
“It’s been a lot of investigating and working out what the best championship would be for me. We think that the British series is going to be the best option, JHR is a great team, and we believe they can offer us a really good package.
“It’s been a pretty big step from karting last year. We couldn’t do any big kart races because of all the restrictions back in Australia as we were pretty much stuck there the whole time through lockdown, being restricted to Western Australia, so it’s been quite a big step into British culture.
“We’re learning a lot with the car every time we go out. It’s almost like it will be a different car by the time we get to race one.
“It’s definitely quite a large step forward from the Mygale chassis to the new Tatuus this year and the new tyres have been performing well too. The ultimate goal would be to win the championship, as with any driver here, but we’ll just take it as it comes and give the best we can do.”
JHR rounded out the championship’s first generation in fine style, running Matthew Rees to both the Drivers’ and Rookie crowns, as well as banking the Teams Cup in the process.
For Team Principal Steven Hunter, Lisle’s development so far during winter testing has marked him out as ‘one to watch’ as the 2022 season progresses.
“We are all very happy to welcome Noah to the team as he makes his first steps out of karting,” said Hunter.
“It’s a big jump to move to the UK but it is a well-trodden path with lots of talented young Australians having led the way before.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Noah develop throughout the year and I genuinely think that he’ll be one to watch as the season moves on. He’s already impressed us all during testing and we are excited to see how he progresses.”
Lisle’s announcement makes him the twelfth confirmed driver on the grid for the 2022 season, and the first of three entries to be confirmed at JHR Developments this week.
They will join rising stars from the likes of Argenti Motorsport, Carlin, Chris Dittmann Racing, Fortec Motorsport, Hitech GP and Virtuosi Racing to contest the ten-event, 30-race season, which commences at Donington Park on 23-24 April, live on ITV4.
