Louis Sharp extends his advantage at the head of ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA despite a challenging weekend at Brands Hatch in the second meeting of the season.
The rapid New Zealander had gone into the weekend very much as the man to beat on the back of a sensational showing in round one at Donington Park, where he powered his Rodin Carlin-run car to a brace of race victories – including a stunning back-to-front performance in the reverse grid race.
With confidence on a high, the talented teenager was on form during Friday’s official practice sessions as he topped the timesheets, although the fact that the leading four drivers were covered by less than a tenth of a second showed that a hard-fought weekend lay ahead.
That proved to be the case in a damp qualifying session on Saturday morning, with Louis amongst the drivers to see his planned programme impacted by a number of yellow flags and then a red flag that ultimately brought the session to an early end.
“Qualifying didn’t go to plan for us on Saturday when you consider the pace we showed in practice, and it really set the agenda for the rest of the weekend,” Sharp admitted. “At a circuit like Brands Hatch, track position is really key as it is so difficult to overtake. It’s one thing having the pace to close in on the car ahead, but getting ahead is another thing completely.”
That left him to start the opening race – held in wet conditions later in the day – from a disappointing P9 on the grid, but Louis once again showed his pace by making up five spots on the opening lap to grab an impressive fourth place.
The safety car would then be deployed to allow a stricken car to be recovered, only for a further incident on the restart to then lead to the action being halted – with the race then restarting as a much-shortened five-minute dash to the flag.
Moving up to third on the opening lap, Louis was pushing hard for second place when his overtaking luck ran out with an unfortunate contact going up to the Druids Hairpin which forced him onto the wet grass and into retirement.
“In hindsight, I probably should have settled for third place in the opening race but as a racing driver, I always want to do better and we had the speed to win so it was all the more frustrating that I didn’t finish and score some decent points.”
In contrast, Sunday dawned dry with Sharp looking to score solid points after Saturday’s setbacks… although his qualifying issues would result in him lining up for both remaining races from the crowded midfield.
“Ahead of Sunday, it was a case of just pressing the reset button and focusing on the job at hand, and to come away from the weekend with a brace of fourth-place finishes from where we were starting was still a good result,” said Sharp.
Starting the morning’s reverse grid race from seventh on the grid, Louis once again enjoyed a fine start as he rocketed to fourth on the opening lap. Louis would then close the gap on the top three, lapping quicker than his rivals for a large part of the race, although he would be unable to find a way ahead as he settled for a safe fourth.
Starting even further back in 11th on the grid for the afternoon’s third showdown, Louis’ overtaking prowess was once again evident as he battled his way forwards to take the flag in fourth spot for the second successive race – with the points scored from a tough weekend extending his lead at the top championship table.
“Points on the board are what is important and we’ve left Brands Hatch having extended our lead in the points. I’m not quite sure how that has happened but it just shows that even when things don’t go entirely to plan, you can still come away from a weekend in a positive position.
“Hopefully, we can get back on the top step at Snetterton next time out which is a really challenging circuit, but one that I enjoy and I’m looking forward to going there in a few weeks’ time.”
Next up for Louis is a trip to Snetterton in two weeks’ time – in the meantime he will be celebrating his 16th birthday.
2023 ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA
(Points after 6 of 30 races)
1/ Louis Sharp (NZL) 82
2/ James Higgins (GBR) 69
3/ Dion Gowda (IND) 60
4/ William Macintyre (GBR) 57
5/ Daniel Guinchard (GBR) 52
6/ Noah Lisle (AUS) 51
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