Teens revved up for UK experience
Two aspiring teenage race car drivers, one from New Zealand and one from Australia, have been invited by Rodin Cars to attend a test in the UK for Rodin Motorsport’s British Formula 4 programme.
Current New Zealand Formula Ford champion Marco Manson, 15, and Queensland-based Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi, 13, will join Rodin Motorsport for a testing programme at Pembrey, Wales, in August.
The pair took out the top two spots in the 2026 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and were invited to Rodin Cars’ manufacturing and testing facility at Mt Lyford, North Canterbury, for a two-day evaluation programme.
Manson and Eskandari-Marandi impressed enough that Rodin Cars elected to send them to the UK.
Emma Duncan, Rodin Cars and Rodin Motorsport managing director, says: “Marco and Sebastian consistently performed at a high level throughout the programme and stood out as two drivers capable of benefiting from the exposure to international competition.
“Their selection for the UK test reflects not only their speed but also their attitude, work ethic and long-term development potential.
“The objective of taking both drivers to the UK is to expose them to a genuine international motorsport environment and benchmark them against the standard required to compete in the British Formula 4 championship.”
Under the “Formula Ford to Formula 1” pathway run by Rodin Cars in association with Motorsport New Zealand, the winner of the national Formula Ford championship receives a test at Rodin Cars. A second opportunity is available as a “wild card” and this year went to Eskandari-Marandi, pictured below.
Manson, who leads the Australian AU4 Formula 4 championship after two rounds, says: “I’m quite excited for what’s to come in Pembrey and excited to drive the F4 car with the actual Rodin Motorsport team.”
He adds his race car in Australia and the Rodin F4 car he experienced on the test track are much the same, but getting the final fraction of a lap time is more demanding.
“It’s like driving anything, same same but different. The cars are similar but you can notice the little differences in every car,” explains Manson.
“Making sure the last 10 per cent is perfect is what’s most important being such a fast and flowing track. There’s only a small difference [between] everyone and finding a tenth [of-a-second] is really hard.”
Eskandari-Marandi, pictured below, says the recent post-season test at Rodin Cars’ facility was a highlight of his season and he felt he adapted well to the challenges it presented.
“The Formula 4 with the wings-and-slicks is a lot better through the faster corners, and being an open diff like the Formula Ford, you have to try and minimise the wheelspin off the slower corners, so that’s something I was quite familiar with,” he adds.
“But then the wings-and-slicks were quite hard to get used to, but I eventually towards the last day got used to it.”
The young drivers were under the guidance of Mark Williamson, Rodin’s longtime coach and driving instructor, during their time at Rodin Cars.
“I’m really pleased to see that Marco and Sebastian have been selected to attend a British F4 test with Rodin Motorsport,” says Williamson.
“It was very difficult to split the performance of both these drivers. It’s a fitting result for them both and I’m sure it will be an eye-opener they will grasp with both hands.”
The test at Pembrey is to benchmark the drivers against the standard expected of current British F4 competitors. The evaluation will also consider driver feedback, consistency, adaptability, professionalism and overall readiness for international competition.
Manson says he’s excited about the prospect of driving an F4 car with the Rodin Motorsport team and would like a chance to race in the UK.
“It would definitely be beneficial if that ended up happening, really cool to experience and race in the British F4 championship,” he continues.
“In the meantime, I’ll be staying fit and doing as much driving as I can.”
The UK test is not solely about lap time. Away from the track, the teenagers will spend time at Rodin Motorsport’s purpose-built Driver Performance Centre to gain insight into the level of preparation required to be successful in Europe.
Duncan notes: “The ultimate goal is to determine whether either driver is capable of progressing into a British F4 programme and to identify the next steps in their development pathway.”
