Chris Dittman Racing was delighted to achieve another Rookie Cup podium in the F4 British Championship with driver Bart Harrison, on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit at the weekend (11/12 May).

Bart started the weekend off with a steady qualifying session on Saturday, setting times to keep him within the overall midfield on the grid, finishing 17th overall and seventh in class. Using his second fastest lap time in qualifying it meant he started in 15th place for race one.

The first race was held on Saturday afternoon and after cars stalled on the start line there was an early Safety Car as Bart was already up two positions on the first lap. Once the Safety Car came into the pitlane it was time to go racing again, though Bart, like most other drivers, found it hard to overtake around the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit. However, he had a clean race and held his position in 13th for the remaining laps.

Following another Safety Car on lap one of the second race of the weekend, Bart capitalised on his opponents’ mistakes and made up another five positions to run in 12th place. When racing resumed, the grid was closely matched, and cars were finding it tricky to overtake, but Bart made it back safely to secure 11th place.

After a couple uneventful contests for the rookie and a good chat with the team, he decided he was going to take a different approach to the final race of the weekend, starting in 17th place but making some encouraging moves around the outside of turn one. Whilst it seemed the rest of the field were dropping off, Bart pushed on, scoring another Rookie podium to add to his success at Donington Park, standing on the second step of the podium for his efforts.

Overall, it was another successful weekend for the team showing promising pace, while Bart proved his racing prowess. Both he and the team are looking ahead to Snetterton where there are hopes of scoring some more points in the F4 British Championship.

Bart Harrison

G1 – 15, R1 – 13 (Rookie: 5)
G2 – 17, R2 – 11 (R: 6)
G3 – 17, R3 – 9 (R: 2)

Championship: 10 (8 points)
Rookie Cup: 2 (32 points)

“We were struggling in qualifying as I didn’t really have the pace and I wasn’t aggressive enough. I couldn’t do much in the first race but on Sunday everyone started to drop off at the end and I was able to pick a couple places off. I really struggled to overtake on Saturday, so I had a chat with the team about where I could do it and what I could do, and the first corner was my friend today. That helped us made up places which is great. At Brands Hatch you usually struggle to overtake but I tried to make the most of it and I am pleased we could show what we can do.”