Chris Dittmann Racing travelled north of the border at the weekend (August 11-13), as rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the F4 British Championship took place at Knockhill in Scotland. It was a strong weekend for the team, with a hat-trick of podium appearances despite tricky race conditions to show for its efforts.

Kicking off the action around the 1.3 – mile circuit, Jack Sherwood and Gustav Jonsson hit the track for free practice on Friday where both cars showed solid pace and finished within the top ten in both sessions. Carrying the good form into qualifying on Saturday morning, Jack crossed the line having gone seventh quickest with teammate Gustav just behind in eighth.

After two green flag laps, race one was underway with Jack lined up fourth and Gustav in seventh. It was a slow start for the former who conceded a place off the line, hustling the position back before the end of the opening tour. With two cars stuck in the gravel trap, the Safety Car was deployed before the race was red flagged four laps later.

As racing action resumed, Jack was wheel to wheel with Aquil Alibhai into the Chicane in the pursuit of third place before backing off. He eventually passed the Virtuosi racer in a daring move one lap later, crossing the line to make his second podium appearance of the season so far. Gustav had a rocket start jumping two places off the line, before he was later pushed wide through the gravel, losing momentum and rejoining the track down one position in sixth. The Swedish youngster was determined not to lose any more ground after the incident and drove cleanly until the chequered flag. After post-race penalties given to other drivers, Gustav was promoted to fifth.

For the reversed grid race two, Gustav lined up 11th with Jack just behind in 12th, both holding their positions on the opening lap. With the Safety Car deployed on lap two, Jack was up in tenth ahead of Gustav, with the teammates going wheel to wheel as racing resumed. After losing his front wing, Noah Lisle ducked into the pits, allowing Jack and Gustav to sail through into ninth and tenth. The pair gained another position respectively as Jack made a good pass on Patrick Heuzenroeder at Taylor’s Hairpin. Jack got his elbows out, making two more passes to cross the line in sixth after making up an impressive six places across the race.

Unfortunately for Gustav, he picked up a puncture after a battle with Josh Irfan and Louis Sharp, finishing the race down in 16th after pitting.

It was a quick start to race three for the pair who started seventh and eighth, with the teammates battling closely once again to gain the lead. Gustav passed Jack on the opening lap before a bold move from the #78 racer at the Hairpin had him back on top. After going wide and dropping back, Jack crossed the line eighth, marking his third top-ten finish of the weekend. Taking advantage of his teammate’s slip-up, Gustav sailed through into sixth where he took the flag, taking his tenth Rookie Cup win of the season so far.

Chris Dittmann Racing will now return to F4 British Championship action in just two week’s time, as the series heads to Donington Park over the weekend of August 26/27 to race on the venue’s longer Grand Prix layout for the first time.

Gustav Jonsson #23

G1 – 7, R1 – 5 (Rookie 1)
G2 – 11, R2 – 16 (R – 5)
G3 – 8, R3 – 6 (R – 1)

Championship: 11 (102 points)
Rookie Cup: 1 (376 points)

“We were quite quick in the dry sessions during practice, so I was hoping for a dry qualifying, but rain was always going to be a possibility here. We had really strong pace in the first half of the session before the red flag, but we struggled to keep up with that in the second half as the track started to dry up. We could have been a bit higher up on the grid, but eighth was not too bad.

“Both Jack and I had a good first race, we made up some positions and finished third and fifth which was really positive. Unfortunately, I was sent off midway through the race and kind of lost the momentum, otherwise I think we could have been even higher up the order. Overall, though, we had good pace so I’m pleased with that.

“Race two was another strong race. I had a good start and had lots of battles with [Josh] Irfan and [Louis] Sharp. I got caught up in a bit of drama with them later and got a puncture and had to box. I ended up 16th which is just not representative of our speed so that was quite disappointing.

“We were back on our game in race three, we had another solid start and some battles in the beginning of the race. It was a challenge to hold the gap to Sharp behind, but we managed it. I was trying to bring the fight to Aquil Alibhai in front, but he was holding steady, so I crossed the line in sixth and first of the rookies so took some good points.

“Overall, we’ve had very good pace all weekend. If we had been able to qualify further ahead then we definitely would have had the pace to just drive away from everyone and get a win, but it’s positive to know we have that in us. A win is definitely the goal for the next one at Donington Park.”

Jack Sherwood #78

G1 – 4, R1 – 3
G2 – 12, R2 – 6
G3 – 7, R3 – 9

Championship: 15 (70 points)

“Qualifying was pretty strong. We hadn’t driven in the wet at Knockhill before, so it was a voyage into the unknown, but the pace was good, and I was happy with that. Race one was really strong. I dropped back initially and then moved forward again, making some good moves. There were tricky conditions at the end with the showers, but we managed to pull through as the team gave me a strong car.

“I made up six places in race two, so I was quite happy with that, considering it’s quite a hard place to overtake. We had the pace to push through and after every pass we were straight on to the next car. We never really stalled out, which was very promising.

“Race three I tried a move for fifth and I think if we’d have made it, we probably could have gone on for a podium, but it just didn’t work out. The grid this year is so close that with one bad move you can drop two positions. We had fastest lap for most of the race, losing it by thousandths at the end, so it has been quite a positive weekend. This is the pace we have, and we know we can battle at the front, so the podium was a reward for the team for all their efforts.”