Chris Dittmann Racing headed to Snetterton at the weekend (May 19-21), for rounds seven, eight and nine of the F4 British Championship on the Norfolk venue’s long and challenging ‘300’ layout.

Despite mixed fortunes across both days, the team recorded two rookie podium appearances with Gustav Jonsson, and leave the venue leading the Rookie Cup and sitting fourth in the Teams’ Cup standings.

With two days of testing at the second longest circuit in the 2023 calendar under their belts, Gustav, and teammates Daniel Guinchard and Jack Sherwood headed out for qualifying under the Norfolk sunshine on Saturday morning.

Unfortunately for Gustav, an issue with the car meant he stopped on track early in the session and was unable to complete a flying lap, ultimately classifying at the back of the pack in 22nd. Daniel finished the session ninth quickest, with Jack in 14th.

After just one racing lap in the opening contest a red flag was shown after contact between several cars, but unfortunately slight contact on the restart for Daniel caused a mechanical issue, which then sent him off at high speed into the barriers at Coram, causing a second red flag.

Daniel managed to get himself out of the car safely, but due to schedule delays caused by BTCC session overruns, the race would not be restarted. With less than 25% of distance covered, the result was nullified, and the race will be added to the schedule at Donington Park over the weekend of August 26/27.

After hard work by the team into the small hours of Sunday morning, Daniel’s car was ready again on Sunday morning for race two. The teenager’s bad luck continued though, as he stopped on track on the formation lap, joining the back of the grid once he got going again.

Jack had a slow start off the line, joining his two teammates at the back of the pack, before Gustav started making the moves to gain seven places by the end of the opening lap. After successfully passing Louis Sharp, Daniel came together with Coskun Irfan, sending them both off onto the grass. Luckily, the youngster narrowly missed the barrier, but was unable to rejoin the race.

After a Safety Car period, racing resumed and Gustav was up into eighth where he crossed the line, having gained an impressive 13 places in total, being rewarded with the Rookie Cup win. Behind him, recovering from his unlucky start, Jack did well to finish 15th.

Given a five-place grid penalty due to the race two incident, Daniel now lined up 13th, with Jack in 11th and Gustav in 21st for the final contest. Doing well to avoid drama between cars up ahead, all three racers got away safely, with Gustav up two places before the first corner.

The Safety Car was deployed before the end of the opening lap and, once action was back underway, the three youngsters kept their heads down and drove cleanly, with Jack crossing the line in 11th, just ahead of Daniel in 12th, and Gustav taking his second podium appearance of the weekend, coming second of the rookies.

It was a busy weekend for the team, with misfortunes meaning Jack and Daniel were unable to show their full potential this time out, but everyone will continue to work hard to maximise their results at Thruxton over the weekend of June 3/4.

Daniel Guinchard #49

G1 – 5, R2 – Race not completed
G2 – 13, R2 – DNF
G3 – 13, R3 – 13

Championship: 9 (52 points)

“Qualifying was a little bit underwhelming, as we showed some really strong pace in free practice, but I didn’t piece it all together when it counted. The car was there, so it’s down to me and I’ll be working on that going forward. In race one, we had quite a big crash which did a lot of damage to the car. It was an unfortunate incident that wasn’t really my fault, the car had a mechanical issue due to a bit of contact earlier on in the race, so I was just a passenger in it all really.

“On race two, we had a problem on the formation lap, which put me to the back, so I had to start the race from last when I should have been 13th. I drove up the order and then had some contact with another driver which gave me a puncture and took me out of the race. That was another unfortunate outing, but these things happen.

“I think we still had some gremlins from the other two races, so we couldn’t really show our full potential in race three, but it was still good to finish and bring the car back in one piece. You can’t win them all, so to leave with many lessons learned is very valuable. We’ll be working hard as a team to come out strong at Thruxton.”

Gustav Jonsson #23

G1 – 22, R2 – Race not completed
G2 – 21, R2 – 8 (Rookie: 1)
G3 – 21, R3 – 16 (R: 2)

Championship: 15 (22 points)
Rookie Cup: 1 (125 points)

“We only managed one lap in qualifying because of the mechanical issue we had. We didn’t set a lap time which meant I had to start all three races from the back of the grid. If race one had been classified, it would have been a great one for me. I was up into eighth from 22nd and was first of the rookies, but these things happen. We’ll take the positives from it, we were really strong and performing well.

“In the second race, we did exactly the same thing. I finished eighth from 21st and took the Rookie win, so it shows that we have the consistency and the pace to be fighting our way through the pack and getting good results. I’m really pleased with that.  For race three, it was just about keeping it on track, racing clean and not making any dumb moves. We did just that, and as everyone else fell off around me I managed to keep it on and finish in a decent position.

“Overall, I’m super happy with my results, given the fact I started from the back all weekend. I’ve only done about ten days of testing in the car before this and a lot of the other rookies have done a lot more. I’m still learning a lot and every weekend has been a big step forward. I’m looking forward to Thruxton and seeing what we can do.”

Jack Sherwood #78

G1 – 19, R2 – Race not completed
G2 – 8, R2 – 15
G3 – 11, R3 – 11

Championship: 17 (17 points)

“Going into qualifying was pretty tricky, as we didn’t really have the pace throughout testing, but to get the gap down was definitely a positive. We found half a second in one session so that’s promising, and the theoretical pace would have put us on pole. We know we have the ability as a team to be up there, I just need to iron out a few things and we’ll get there.

“Race one was void so it was a bit of a nothing contest. In race two I stalled it off the line, and then the dirty air is so bad at Snetterton that you can’t make any impressions throughout the race. It felt like a bit of a train, so I couldn’t really push much. Race three was okay. I made up a few positions on the start and had an attempt at getting into tenth. I didn’t quite pull it off, but it wasn’t a bad race.

“The pace in the team and myself is there and we have what it takes to run at the front as we showed at Donington Park, but I’m just making a few too many mistakes at the moment. We’ll be working really hard between now and Thruxton to make sure I come back as a more rounded driver and hopefully fight for some podiums and wins.”