Chris Dittmann Racing bounced back to form during last weekend’s second round of the Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA at Brands Hatch, with Tommy Harfield securing the team’s first podium of the year and catapulting himself into the title picture in the process.
After a tough start to the season at Donington Park last month, the CDR team faced a very different sort of challenge on the tight 1.2-mile Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, where less than a second separated the entire 30-car field during pre-event testing. Here, more than ever, mistakes would be punished harshly, and that’s before the mixed conditions that struck Sunday’s finale added yet another dimension.
However, the team’s four drivers all rose to the occasion, with each impressing across three turbulent races. Harfield again led the line, scoring a superb third overall in the opener before putting on a thrilling sprint in the wet-dry finale. His consistency of a trio of top five finishes elevating him to third in the championship points.
Despite showing flashes of pace, sheer bad luck denied Henry Mercier from adding to the team’s score, while Daniella Sutton and series newcomer Autumn Fisher both made big gains to end the event as top 20 finishers.
Harfield showed his star quality from the very start, backing up his fourth-fastest time in testing with fifth on the grid for Saturday’s opening race. Harfield is fast building a reputation as a rapid starter and produced two great launches across a stop-start race, which with improved luck he could have won.
A perfectly timed getaway when the lights went out helped Harfield into third, and he soaked up pressure from Lewis Wherrell before the red flags flew after a multi-car tangle left cars strewn around the circuit. Harfield lost none of his focus for the restart, getting easily the best launch of the front three and giving himself the chance to slice into the lead before being getting boxed in and losing momentum into Paddock Hill. Despite his best efforts, third would be the limit, with Harfield delighted at scoring his first podium finish of the season.
Fisher raced well on what was only her second-ever single-seater outing after her recent debut in French F4, bringing her car home unscathed in 25th. Both Sutton and Mercier suffered disappointment, retiring with damage and deranged suspension respectively.
Sunday’s reversed-grid race brought an extra opportunity to bag some valuable championship points, with bonuses awarded for overtaking. After his top score at Donington last time out, Harfield again excelled at the start, immediately surging up three places from eighth on the grid to run inside the top five before another safety car hindered his advances. With the leading pack largely set once racing resumed for the final 11 minutes, Harfield had to settle for fourth and another healthy points haul.
Mercier was making great progress through the field, having picked his way up to 19th from 26th on the grid after his earlier retirement. He looked set to push closer to the top 10 before being unluckily shuffled wide at Clearways and dumped back to 25th, finishing just ahead of both Fisher and Sutton who banked valuable mileage and experience.
Rain arrived shortly before Sunday’s finale, giving the grid a dilemma. While the cars formed up on a damp track, a dry line was already emerging. Harfield made the brave move to sacrifice his fifth place on the grid and pit for dry tyres after the warm-up lap. Mercier followed suit, gambling from 23rd on the grid while both Sutton and Fisher remained on wets.
This set up a thrilling sprint, as the dry tyres came into their operating window in the latter stages. Harfield was 20th by the time he joined the race, but an early safety car allowed him to catch the pack ahead on wets. When racing resumed, Harfield surged up the order as his tyres gained temperature and had just broken into the top 10 when an unfortunate clip on the rear of a slower car heading up to Druids damaged his front wing. A second safety car gave the ideal opportunity to pit for a replacement, with the CDR team doing a fine job of getting a new nose installed and Harfield back out. When racing resumed with just five minutes remaining, Harfield was 20th, but with a terrific grip advantage on the now-dry track. An overtaking spree followed, with Harfield battling up to an incredible fifth at the flag.
Mercier put on his own charge, rising from the back of the pack to run as high as 13th before contact caused a puncture in the closing laps and consigned him to the pits. Despite staying out on wets and struggling with virtually zero grip toward the end as the tread overheated, both Fisher and Sutton did excellently to hold on to their cars and fight into 19th and 20th places respectively. Considering their learning curve, and the chaos going on around them, this represented a very promising result for the pair.
CDR team founder Chris Dittmann said: “Brands Hatch felt like a return to form for us, and to come away from a weekend like that without any major damage and with a great haul of points puts us in a very strong position.
The field is so tight around a track like this, and the pressure was on all four drivers to not make mistakes, try and stay out of trouble and manage very strict track limits. Tommy was sensational in all three races, from the podium in race one to his electric starts, and then that incredible recovery in the finale. Henry had some really good pace this weekend, which unfortunately hasn’t reflected in his results and he definitely deserved more.
I was really pleased for both Daniella and Autumn, who learned very quickly across a tough weekend and got their rewards in that final race. It would have been so easy to make a mistake under those circumstances, and the fact they stayed out fighting will be a real confidence boost. We’re already looking forward to Snetterton.”
