Race 7 & 8 F4 Summer Challenge Race victory at Oulton Park Circuit Free practiceI already knew the track and the car, so the free practice sessions were just a “warm-up”. The difficulty with this track is not to be fast, but to be consistently. The track is very narrow, which makes it difficult to overtake, but it also has almost no run-off areas, which means that a mistake mostly means the end of the race. That’s why it was crucial for me to find a rhythm in the free practice sessions and to be fast long-term instead of pushing for hot laps. Qualifying Qualifying went almost perfectly. I was able to show what I could do on my first fast lap and provisionally secure pole position. Unfortunately, I was held up by a slower car on my last fast lap, which forced me to abort my last push lap. Unfortunately, another driver was able to push on this last lap and take pole away from me by 0.05 seconds. So I started the race from 2nd place – the main thing was front row. Race 1The first race was characterised by exciting duels for victory and dramatic incidents of other riders, but I was able to stay out of them. I had to fight until the last lap, but I managed to finish the race in the lead and win the first race. Race 2I started race 2 from 10th place and had a lot to play for. I managed to fight my way up to 6th place on the first lap, but then I got too impatient in the battle for 4th place. I tried to do too much too quickly and touched the car in front of me, which caused damage to my front wing. This put me at a disadvantage both on the straights and in the corners and I had to fight hard to keep my places. After an exhausting race, I still managed to bring the car home in 5th place.

Race 5 & 6 F4 Summer Challenge Pole position due to 0.01 seconds Free PracticeIn this racing series, we have 3 official free practice sessions before each race weekend. I didn’t drive FP1, but in FP2 and FP3 I was the fastest driver on the track. Qualifying Qualifying went very well for me, it had rained in practice and the track was still wet, so the track conditions were very challenging. Nevertheless, I was still the fastest car on the track in this session and secured my first pole position in the F4 Summer Challenge. Race 1Race 1 was very tactical. The track was still wet, but definitely drying out. So the question was, do we start the race on rain tyres or do we take the risk and start on slicks? We decided to go for the rain tyres, which turned out to be the worse choice. From the second half of the race onwards, I had no chance against the drivers on slick tyres, but I was able to save 4th place. Race 2 I started the second race in 7th place and the start went really well for me. I was able to fight my way up to 4th place on the first lap and then to 3rd place. Over the course of the race, I was also able to snatch 2nd place and fight for the overall victory right up to the last corner. However, it wasn’t quite enough and so I brought the car across the finish line in 2nd place. I definitely had the pace to be in contention for an overall win in both races. I’ll definitely take this motivation into the next race in Oulton park and have high expectations of myself.

Race 1 & 2 F4 Summer Challenge First two races in F4 done Free practice Free practice went well for me. I was able to keep improving and was consistently in the top 5 for all 4 free practice sessions, which gave me good confidence for my first race in this series and I felt safe in the car and on the track. One of the challenges in this series is definitely the traffic on the track. With 60 cars entered, it can get very tight and a clean, clear lap is difficult to get. Qualifying  I struggled a bit in qualifying. We got our tactics a bit messed up and ended up in quite a bit of traffic on the track. Despite an over all fastest second sector, I didn’t manage to set the pace I could have shown. As a result, I qualified for the start in 10th place.   Race 1 I got off to a great start for the first race and was able to make up a place before the first corner. I was fast throughout the race and was able to fight my way forwards efficiently. The last two laps were very close again in the battle for 3rd place, which I missed by half a car length in the end, so I finished in 4th place. Race 2 I started the second race in 7th place. Unfortunately, the start went horribly wrong, the two cars in front of me made a jump start, which irritated me so much that I made one myself. As a result, I got a drive-through penalty and had to go through the pit lane. After this worst-case start, I got back into the race in 32nd place and the chase to catch up began. I managed it pretty well. I was able to overtake 10 cars in one lap and was partly the fastest car on track. Thanks to this fast and consistent pace, I was able to fight my way back up to 11th place after this miserable start.  Not ideal, but you have to make the best of mistakes and take what you’ve learnt with you for the next race.