Chris Dittmann Racing travelled north to Croft circuit in Yorkshire at the weekend (25/26 June) for rounds 13, 14, and 15 of the F4 British Championship season, as local racer Joel Pearson aimed to continue his development.
After a tough weekend last time out at Oulton Park, the focus remained on Joel as he learns and improves every time he climbs behind the wheel. The weekend was to end with a worrying incident involving the 16-year-old, but thankfully after checks at the medical centre, he was cleared to head home to recover.
With a number of tight corners, the narrow circuit is difficult to overtake on, meaning grid position once again would be key. With steady improvements made each session, Joel was finding but struggled to pull it all together into one quick lap, ending qualifying 15th fastest, where he would start for all three 20-minute races.
The Yorkshire racer looked to fight his way through the pack in the opening contest, with his speed through the corners a promising sign of progress in the car. Despite strong pace and his best efforts, Joel dropped behind his closest rival Edward Pearson and struggled to close the gap in the dirty air, taking the flag in 15th.
Race two proved to be lively as he dropped back a place on the opening lap, before contact from Michael Shin spun him around. Recovering well and capitalising on mistakes from drivers ahead, the youngster managed to catch up to the midfield and gained 11th, which became tenth on the penultimate lap, where he crossed the line and scored championship points.
Joel started the final race of the weekend well, climbing two places into 13th off the line. His lap times steadily increased, exemplifying some of the positive steps the Leeds racer has made in the car, but unfortunately his luck was about to change.
Heading down the back straight towards the tricky Tower corner, the car ahead moved in the braking zone leaving Joel with little time to react or take avoiding action, heading nose first into the barriers at high speed, causing the race to be red flagged. After initial uncertainty, he was thankfully extracted from the car and thoroughly checked over in the medical centre, leaving battered, bruised, and with a suspected broken finger, demonstrating the strength of the Tatuus T-421 chassis.
Undoubtedly a weekend to forget for Joel and the team, the focus will now be on his recovery and repairs to the car, ready for the next three races of the 2022 F4 British Championship season at Knockhill, in Scotland, over the weekend of 30/31 July.
Joel Pearson
G1 – 15, R1 – 15
G2 – 15, R2 – 10
G3 – 15, R3 – DNF
Championship: 14 (30 points)
“We didn’t quite hook it up in qualifying. It’s all there, I just need to work on putting it all together on one lap. After looking at the data with the team and Josh our driver coach, we picked out positives from each individual corner, so we have plenty to build on.
“Race one started well. The pace was quite strong, but I made a few mistakes as I got a bit too eager to try and get past the person in front of me. I was catching them towards the end, and I was only about three tenths slower than some of the front runners, so it shows that the pace is there. The car feels good, so now it’s about fine tuning myself and how I work with it.
“We had an okay start for race two, but as I entered the chicane, [Michael] Shin clipped my back wheel and I spun. From then on, I was working to catch everyone back up again. The steering was off after the contact, but I was still matching my qualifying time, and finished tenth so I was happy with that. It was a bit messy but a decent result.
“We had a good start for race three and made up a few places. Unfortunately, I was involved in an incident that sent me into the barrier at Tower. The driver in front of me moved early into the braking zone and I didn’t have enough time to recover. I’m a bit battered and bruised from the impact, and I’ll be sore for a while, but I’m okay. I just need to work on my recovery before we head to Knockhill.”
Chris Dittmann, Team Owner
Teams’ Cup: 6 (24 points)
“It was a mixed weekend for Joel. There were some good highs – race two was good even after a few incidents. He was spun around on the first lap but came back fighting and got up into tenth, which was a great result. The pace has been there, now it’s all about pulling it all together at the right time.
“The last race puts everything into perspective. To walk away from an incident like that, Joel was very lucky, and it was a big relief for everybody. It was a racing incident; he had a good run on the back straight into Tower when the driver in front braked slightly early and caught him out. There was no malice, but the result was quite a sizable accident, the biggest he has ever had and the biggest we’ve seen as a team. It is a definite testament to the safety of the car that he is okay.
“The plan was to have a practice in a couple of days’ time at Knockhill but I’m not sure either Joel or the car will be ready in time for that, unfortunately. We’ll focus on getting him on the mend and make sureready for the next time out.”
