Chris Dittmann Racing enjoyed F4 British Championship success at Silverstone at the weekend (September 24/25), with a podium appearance from series debutant Jaden Pariat, bringing home the team’s first silverware of the season.

Jaden, from Shillong, in Meghalaya India, joined the team alongside returnee Jack Sherwood to round out a two-car line-up for the remainder of the campaign. After a drizzly and overcast Friday for the practice sessions, the sun was shining on Saturday, where Jaden would head out for his first qualifying session. A red flag was waved at half distance, disrupting the two young racers as they attempted to set their fastest times, before going green again with less than ten minutes on the clock. It was 17th quickest for Jack and 19th for Jaden in the end, setting the races up to be a tough battle, but a great learning opportunity for the pair.

With a lightning start to race one, Jack was up four places into 13th on the opening lap, before moving into the top ten when drama up ahead caused a number of cars to fall down the order. Further down the field Jaden had gained two places on the start after recovering from a stall on the grid, before a Safety Car halted action. When racing resumed, the duo kept their heads down, doing well to avoid further trouble amongst the front runners which brought out a second Safety Car and, as the cars settled back into the race, Jaden made the move on Isaac Barashi to cross the line 11th, with Jack ahead in eighth to score his second top ten finish in just his seventh race in the series.

Despite another stall on the grid for Jaden, he again made up two places into 17th on the opening lap of race two. The young racer benefitted from other drivers’ mistakes as he sailed through into 13th, before a Safety Car. From there, it was an impressive charge to the finish line as the 15-year-old gained four more places to cross the line ninth overall and second of the rookies, gaining a Rookie Cup podium appearance on his debut weekend, which was later bumped to seventh overall due to post race penalties for other drivers. Unfortunately for Jack, contact early on caused front wing damage, forcing him into the pits for a replacement. Re-emerging in 19th, it was a tough battle through the pack for the youngster but managing to stay out of trouble and with good pace, he crossed the line 15th.

It was a dramatic start to race three, with a stalled car on the grid causing a collision. Taking evasive action, Jaden spun onto the grass but managed to recover well before the Safety Car was deployed to allow the clear up of debris on track. With the clock ticking down, it made its way into the pitlane on lap five, before coming straight back to recover another car. Once racing resumed there were less than eight minutes remaining, with both Jack and Jaden getting away well on the restart, gaining places to 12th and 15th respectively. Further contact up ahead brought out the third Safety Car of the contest, but with only one minute on the clock, the race was red flagged.

Jaden’s second place rookie cup finish marked the first podium appearance for Chris Dittmann Racing in the F4 British Championship thisseason, rewarding the team’s continued hard work and dedication. There is now a two week break before the championship returns for the final round of the season at Brands Hatch over the weekend of October 8/9.

Jack Sherwood #78

G1 – 17, R1 – 8
G2 – 17 , R2 – 15
G3 – 17, R3 – 12

Championship – 18 (13 points)

“For qualifying I think the pace was there, but we got a bit unlucky with the red flag as we had just gone to the new tyre and it ruined our warm up phase. After that, there were a few disruptions, but we were going faster and faster each lap, and two tenths would have put us up in the top ten. There are positives to take away from the session and we’ve made a big leap in pace since Friday’s practice.

“I had a great start to race one and made up four positions on the first lap. We definitely had good pace as we kept picking cars off one at a time and were making up good ground. It was dramatic, but in those kinds of races, you have to keep your head down and not do anything silly and it pays off. Overall, I’m happy with the pace, we made some good overtakes and had a lot of fun.

“In race two, we got unlucky with a collision on the first few laps, which put us a lap down because we lost the front wing. The pace once we came out of the pits was really strong, so that is a big positive to take away. We didn’t get many racing laps in race three, with most of it spent under the Safety Car, which really limited our chances of going forward. There were quite a few incidents, and the main thing was just to keep out of them. Again, we had good pace, so I’m looking forward to carrying it over into Brands Hatch. I’ve already raced on that circuit this year, so hopefully that will give us a bit of an advantage.”

Jaden Pariat #8

G1 – 19, R1 – 11 (Rookie Cup – 4)
G2 – 19, R2 – 7 (R – 2)
G3 – 19, R3 – 15 (R – 6)

Championship – 17 (13 points)
Rookie Cup – 7 (32 points)

“Qualifying didn’t really go our way, as I was finding it quite difficult to gel with the car in the early stages. We finished 19th so it could have gone better. In race one, my start was not ideal as I stalled the car twice. Throughout the race, there was a lot going on in front of me, but I stayed patient and made the moves. Before heading into the race, I was super nervous, I hadn’t done a race weekend for almost a year so I wasn’t sure how it would go. I had been watching videos of previous F4 British Championship races this season and could tell it was really competitive, so I knew I had a lot of work to do. The restart after the first safety car was good and I made up a position into turn one which helped me with my confidence. The whole team is feeling really positive, it was my first race and I was already close to scoring points.

“For race two, I didn’t get off to a good start again, but we made it through and kept it clean until the end. I made a couple of mistakes that could have cost me, but thankfully we had a big enough gap to keep our position. I didn’t expect to be on the podium on my debut weekend at all. I didn’t even expect to finish ninth because the last time I looked at the board I was 12th. Standing on the podium at Silverstone on my first international race weekend definitely hits the spot.

“For race three, I finally had a decent start, and I was about to take two cars, but then there was a huge shunt ahead that I had to avoid, and I spun pretty quickly onto the grass. Luckily, I had a good recovery, and whatever racing laps we actually got in were quite a heated battle. It was just a mission of survival, but it was a lot of fun. I definitely feel a lot more confident now that I have this weekend under my belt, and I know what to expect. The team work so hard, so I think we’re all happy with how it has gone.”

Chris Dittmann, Team Owner 

“It was a very positive weekend for both drivers. We struggled a little bit in qualifying; with the whole grid being so close they didn’t quite get that laps together that they were capable of. Both Jack and Jaden did an amazing job in all the races to avoid quite a lot of carnage and were showing some really good pace.

“For Jaden, in his first weekend with the team, he really showed what he’s capable of. We’re really pleased with his podium appearance, it has been a long time coming and a lot of hard work has gone into this year, so it’s nice to be rewarded with that.

“We’re feeling strong going into the final round at Brands Hatch. For Jaden it will be another new circuit to master, so it will be a big learning experience for him. For Jack, it’s a circuit he should know well, and he’s getting more and more familiar with the car every time he goes out, so we’re hoping for another good weekend.”