Brands Hatch Indy staged the opening round of the 2019 F4 British Championship – certified by FIA, powered by Ford.
Arden drivers Bart Horsten, Tommy Foster and Alex Connor all fared strongly in testing leading up too the weekend, putting them in a strong position before Qualifying.
Alex is only 14-years old at the moment, so is unable to race until his 15th birthday, meaning it was Tommy and Bart in action when the official action got underway on Saturday.
Tommy set the 5th fastest time in Qualifying, with Bart just two places behind in 7th position. Both drivers were just than 0.25s off pole position in the tightly contested session.
When second-fastest lap times were considered, for the Race 3 Grid, Tommy and Bart will start from 6th and 7th on the grid respectively.
Race 1 on Saturday took place in wet conditions, leading too an action-packed opening race of the championship. The Arden duo both made solid starts and emerged from the first lap unscathed in the treacherous conditions.
The pair kept it on the island and both made up ground on the notoriously difficult to overtake at Indy Circuit. Tommy gained a position to finish in 4th position, with Bart gaining two positions to follow his teammate home in 5th.
The second race of the weekend was delayed due to adverse weather conditions, where fog affected the running early on in the morning.
The race got underway with Bart making a storming start to take the lead at Turn 1 for Arden, with Tommy emerging in 5th position in the opening corners. Sadly Bart was an early casualty in the race, denying him a shot at victory after he was tipped into a spin at Clearways, ending his race and saw the Safety Car deployed.
At the restart, the leader ran wide at Paddock Hill bunching the field up. Tommy continued to make progress and gains into the front pack – after passing Sebastian Alvarez on the run up to Surtees, the Double R driver ran wide onto the grass, collecting Tommy as he re-entered the track and tipped him into a spin at the final corner, causing him to pit for a front wing change.
Tommy emerged back into the race to gain mileage, however was classified a lap down in 10th position after being taken out of the race.
Race three saw the wet-conditions return, with Tommy and Bart once again able make up ground on the field, both gaining a position to 5th and 6th respectively.
Over the course of the race, tyre wear began to affect the drivers due to the abrasive nature of the track. This put Bart under big pressure from race one winner Luke Browning, behind him in the Richardson Racing machine.
Despite the pressure, Bart resisted well to hold onto 6th position at the chequered flag – one position behind Tommy to round out the action at the opening weekend of the championship.
The British F4 team will be back in action at Donington Park on the 27-28 April for the second round of the 2019 season.