Chris Dittmann Racing battled the elements with an expanded three-car line-up in the F4 British Championship at the weekend (July 11-14), at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

After promising weather for practice on Thursday, it was very wet for qualifying. Rookie Bart Harrison and debutant Jess Edgar were straight into the thick of it, running one-two when the red flag was shown with 11 minutes on the clock. After another red flag disrupted the final runs, Bart would finish 16th, Jess 22nd, and Carrie 25th.

Remaining wet and cool for race one on Saturday morning, Jess started well on her debut, climbing up to 14th, with Bart just behind in 16th, though Carrie slid off in the difficult conditions, recovering to finish the contest in 21st. Ahead, Bart began to put the pressure on Jess, getting past on the final lap to take 14th, just ahead of his teammate.

Race two, later that afternoon, was disrupted firstly when a car stopped on the formation lap, and then abandoned after a technical fault led to a multiple-car incident, which included Jess. Thankfully, all drivers were okay, but the contest was moved to Sunday morning, under sunny skies. Jess took some side on contact on lap two, before Bart fell back to 19th after making an error, though he recovered well to finish 16th, just behind Jess in 14th, while Carrie crossed the line 20th.

Unfortunately, Jess stalled off the line for race three, falling to the back of the field while Bart gained one place. Carrie made her way forward, climbing up three spots before the red flag was shown when several cars went off at high speed – Bart doing well to escape without any damage as he took to the grass in avoidance. He was on the charge on the restart, almost taking two cars with one move for tenth, but just afterwards damaged his front wing when braking late. That slowed his progress on track, and he would finish the race 19th, while Carrie scored her best result with 13th and Jess fought her way to 15th.

The F4 British Championship side of the team will now have a one-month break from racing, before heading to Knockhill for the next three races of the 2024 season, over the weekend of August 9-11.

Bart Harrison #77

G1 – 15, R1 – 14 (Rookie: 6)
G2 – 15, R2 – 16 (R: 5)
G3 – 15, R3 – 19 (R: 6)

Championship: 22 (11 points)
Rookie Cup: 5 (117 points)

“Zandvoort is a cool track. It proved difficult for us, but we’ve enjoyed it. Race one was one of the most difficult of my life as in the first couple of laps I couldn’t see a thing, which meant I went off track a little bit. The pace is there and its unlucky I couldn’t bring a result back for the team.

“Race two I made a little mistake, so it was hard to come back through the field. We’re all so close on times so we were in a train. I tried to make a difference but could only regain a few places. Race three was exciting and it looked like we were going to get some good points from a not very good starting position but a little mistake on my behalf meant I lost my front wing. It wasn’t a clean weekend, but the pace was there, which gives me confidence for the rest of the season.”

Jess Edgar #47

G1 – 17, R1 – 15
G2 – 21, R2 – 14
G3 – 21, R3 – 15

“It’s been a good experience this weekend, joining a new team, getting to know everyone and working with new people. I’ve tried to do a good job and we got better every time we went out, which meant we were able to come through in the races. It’s been hard as this is most of the drivers’ full-season championship so they might look at me and think I am getting in the way, but it’s a learning experience for me to help me get better for when F1 Academy comes here. I’m trying as hard as I can, learning as much as I can, and it’s been a good team to be part of. Race three was a busy and chaotic one – unfortunately I stalled at the start and fell to the back. When it was red flagged, I made it ahead of a few people but didn’t have the pace to move forwards. F4 is exciting and lots happened in the races, so I enjoyed the weekend.”

Carrie Schreiner #15

G1 – 25, R1 – 21
G2 – 24, R2 – 20
G3 – 24, R3 – 13

“It was a tough weekend in Zandvoort, as we had constantly changing weather conditions. In races one and two I struggled a bit, but in the third race I was finally able to finish inside the top 15, which I was happy about. That meant my weekend ended on a positive note and means I feel ready for my F1 Academy races at the circuit in August. Thank you to the team for their help and work over the last two meetings.”