Chris Dittmann Racing returned to F4 British Championship action at the weekend (July 28-30) after a five-week summer break, as the series headed to Croft in North Yorkshire. With three more Rookie Cup podium appearances for Gustav Jonsson, the youngster now leads the standings by 26 points.

Two sessions of free practice kicked off the weekend, as Gustav impressed with the quickest time in the second session on Friday afternoon. He, alongside teammate Jack Sherwood hoped to carry forward the pace into qualifying on Saturday.

It was a fraught session for Jack, as a brief coming together with Gabriel Stilp took him off track and brought out a red flag. With the early end to his session, the 16-year-old classified 15th quickest. After struggling to get back up to speed after the session restarted, Gustav finished 12th overall.

Lining up according to second quickest qualifying times for race one, Gustav started from 12th with Jack further back in 16th – the latter jumping two places on the opening lap. On the hunt for more forward progress, Jack was hot on the tail of Patrick Heuzenroeder before unfortunately experiencing an engine failure which forced him into the pits, ultimately classified 19th.

After falling back down the order on the start, Gustav got his head down and began to pick off the cars ahead. With an impressive move around the outside of Noah Lisle, the Swedish teenager was running 11th, with his sights set on Stilp ahead. With just three laps remaining, Gustav made the move to go into tenth overall and second of the rookies where he crossed the line.

The reversed grid race two meant that Jack lined up fifth and Gustav eighth, with both drivers getting a decent launch off the line. It was a busy start, as Gustav touched the kerb, sending him into a spin, with contact damaging his front wing on the next lap. As the Safety Car was called, the youngster was able to make it back to the pit for a replacement nose before re-joining the race in 17th, but he then fought his way back up to tenth, making up an impressive seven places after the earlier drama and winning the Pirelli Hardest Charger Award for his efforts.

Jack was running third after the Safety Car period before contact at Clervaux sent him into the gravel. Fortunately, the young racer recovered well and remained on track just three positions down in sixth, before a series of daring moves meant he crossed the line fourth.

The Safety Car was deployed once again on the opening lap of race three after multiple cars went off. Once racing resumed, Jack was up into tenth and defending fiercely from Aquil Alibhai for much of the race, before he eventually got by, moving him to 11th. Teammate Gustav drove a smart race, staying out of trouble to gain five places, finishing seventh and second of the rookies.

The team now has under two weeks to prepare for rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the season set to take place at Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend of August 12/13.

Gustav Jonsson #23 

G1 – 12, R1 – 10 (Rookie – 1)
G2 – 8, R2 – 10 (R2)
G3 – 12, R3 – 7 (R2)

Championship: 13 (84 points)
Rookie Cup: 1 (320 points)

“Qualifying was a bit of a disappointment after being the quickest car on the road during free practice two on Friday. The first new tyre run was good, and we were inside the top four, definitely having the pace to be on pole, but after the red flag we couldn’t maximise our potential.

“I didn’t have the best start to race one as I lost two positions. But I made some really good moves and was feeling really quick, so we ended up inside the top ten. We had a really good start to race two, then I tried to make a move in a high-speed corner and touched the kerb, spinning with the car in front and losing two positions. On the next lap, someone braked hard, a few cars stacked up, and I ended up hitting the car in front and losing my front wing. Even so, the pace was so strong that I was able to move back up the order to cross the line tenth. If it hadn’t been for the contact, I think we had the potential to be within the top three, so that’s a big confidence boost.

“It was a really busy start to race three, with a lot of cars coming together at the first corner. One corner later, a lot of cars went flying off at the chicane, so I made up a few positions before the race was red flagged. I had a good temperature in the tyre, so I was able to maximise the first lap on the restart. I gained five places overall, so it was positive, and the car felt really good.

“I’ve been able to extend my Rookie Cup lead quite a bit which is nice. I’m excited to go to Knockhill as I’ve never been there before. I’ve practiced on the sim a few times but it’s a tricky circuit. I’m feeling good about it as the team have been great at helping me learn all the new tracks I’ve encountered this season, so we’ll give it our best shot.”

Jack Sherwood #78

G1 – 16, R1 – 19
G2 – 5, R2 – 4
G3 – 15, R3 – 11

Championship: 16 (41 points)

“Qualifying was quite strong. I think we had the pace to be in the top five, so that was promising, but a mistake from my side ended any progress we could have made. I was on my second push lap, and I dropped a wheel on the exit of Sunny In. I couldn’t really recover it, and it was frustrating because it was quite a slow crash, but it did quite a bit of damage. Qualifying is so important, so it was always going to be tricky in the races.

“We were really unlucky with the engine failure in race one. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, so it was a hard one to take. I was running in 14th and making good progress then just lost power. We were quite strong pace-wise in race two. We got up to third, but I was pushed off through the gravel which meant I dropped back into sixth. Luckily, I made two places back up again and could have done more but we ran out of time.

“Race three was a bit hectic. We got a good launch off the line and made up a few positions, so it was frustrating when the red flag came out as I was moving forward. Our second start was not so good, I had a bit of wheelspin in the second phase which caused us to drop back, but I kept my head down. I was defending from [Aqil] Alibhai for quite a while but then I lost the tow to [James] Piszcyk and he got back past me. We’ve progressed a lot since before the summer break which is really positive. I’m looking forward to heading up to Knockhill next. I love that place and I think we’ll go well there.”