Aditya Kulkarni said it was “good to be back” in the GB3 Championship after making his return to the series with new team ACKEL GP at Brands Hatch.
The 19-year-old had previously competed in the 2024 season with Hillspeed, finishing the season 19th in the drivers’ standings.
“After a bit of a break, it’s good to be back,” he said. “In 2025, I was testing and driving in Formula Regional Europe, so to now come back to GB3 in a new car, it’s a good change of scenery.”
Kulkarni was impressed by the improved performance of the GB3 car, with the updated Tatuus MSV GB3-025 a step up from the machinery he previously used.
“This year’s GB3 car is much quicker and it’s good to almost be on a par with FIA F3 machinery,” said Kulkarni. “In 2024, the car would move around more but with this year’s car, it has a lot more mechanical grip.
“Going through Hawthorns bend at Brands, no matter whether I was on new or used tyres, in hot or cold weather, there was lots of grip every lap and I could carry so much speed.”
Having not featured in a competitive race for an extended period of time, Kulkarni enjoyed the challenge of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
“The limits are so small, so it requires a lot of confidence to be able to push to the limit straightaway and not make mistakes,” he explained. “All things considered, it was an alright weekend. We were definitely lacking pace but that was expected having not tested the car much and having only my data to run with.”
Kulkarni is hoping to be able to continue his return to racing at the season finale in Barcelona on November 7-8.
“We should be a lot better from a performance perspective because the margin for error [at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya] is bigger,” he said. “With all the data we gathered in the Brands weekend, we can hopefully hit the ground running there.”
“[These rounds] are definitely a preparation for next season,” he continued. “I’m not sure what I’ll be racing, but it’s good to get laps in because that is what I have been lacking throughout my single-seater career due to costs.”