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September 30, 2019

Arden claim hard-fought silverware in F4 at Silverstone

Red Arrows back on the podium at the Home of British Motorsport.
Press
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|
September 30, 2019

Arden claim hard-fought silverware in F4 at Silverstone

Red Arrows back on the podium at the Home of British Motorsport.

Arden Motorsport made a well-deserved return to the rostrum in their ‘home’ F4 British Championship round at the high-speed Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire.

Bart Horsten continued his timesheet-topping pace from Knockhill but was left frustrated after a difficult qualifying and mechanical woes in race one.

The Australian racer bounced back superbly in Sunday’s double-header of contests, progressing from last position to finish fifth in the second race.

He then made great progress in the final encounter, securing second position from sixth on the grid to mark a hard-fought return to the British F4 podium.

Rookie Alex Connor started from pole in race two, yet again displaying his potential as he led in ever-changing conditions in the early stages.

The 15-year-old was unfortunate to suffer contact which put him out of podium contention, but enjoyed two strong points finishes to take the fight for second in the Rookie Cup standings down to the wire at Brands Hatch.

In a similar fashion to Horsten, Tommy Foster also suffered issues in the opening race before recovering well to keep banking consistent points.

Abbie Munro had the dream start to her weekend to secure a fourth consecutive points finish after enjoying an outstanding debut at her home circuit last time out.

The Scot was then unlucky to suffer contact in race two, before recovering to 12th in the final race, impressing all weekend in what was her first time racing an F4 machine in the wet.

The season finale of the F4 British Championship will take place on the iconic Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit next weekend [12-13 October] to cap off the 2019 season in fine fashion.

Arden British F4 Team Manager Gary Ward:

“Bart did an excellent job, he came from the back and moved his way forward very sensibly, drove really well and stayed out of trouble. For him to bounce back after the problem we had in the race before is absolutely superb.

“Alex was brilliant in race two, starting from pole position and experiencing all the nerves and pressure that comes with that. He managed to lead the race and was doing a really great job, he just keeps building and building and takes all these experiences on board.

“Tommy did a very solid job all weekend despite some issues, and we cannot say enough about Abbie, she’s doing a superb job.

“She’s come in, she’s had no race experience in an F4 car before Knockhill where she scored points in every race, and has come here and had her first ever time driving in the wet in the car.

“She’s a hero in our eyes, she’s done a superb job and we’re so lucky and so happy to have her in our team.”


Abbie Munro (#12) said:

“It was a really good learning weekend here, it was great to score points again and continue where we left off at Knockhill, and so that was a good feeling.

“Obviously going from wet to dry to wet to dry was challenging, especially in that last race.

“I feel like in a way this circuit suited my driving style a little bit more than Knockhill did, and now I’m just really excited for the final round at Brands Hatch where hopefully we can make the same sort of improvement again.”


Alex Connor (#27) said:

“It was disappointing in race two, I started on pole and it was my first time being on pole position.

“I had a lot of nerves but we managed to get a good start and lead for a couple of laps, and then the pace starting to drop off a bit, Alvarez caught me and I got overtaken.

“Then it obviously went downhill from there, but it was an awesome feeling to lead an F4 race and one that I want to have again.

“I hope Brands goes well, I obviously had to miss it at the start of the season because of my age but testing went really well there so I think it’s going to be a good track for us.”


Bart Horsten (#50) said:

“Again we were looking really strong in free practice and it was actually quite disappointing how things went in qualifying and race one.

“So it was a really tough Saturday after a fantastic Friday testing, but to finally get a podium for the first time in a little while so it’s good to get that on the board and great for the team, they really deserve it.

“It’s really good even if it’s not a win, which we really desperately want after all the hard work we’ve put in. We’ll just come back as we always do at Brands Hatch and try to have the best performance we can and go for a win again.”

Tommy Foster (#53) said:

“We just struggled for pace the whole weekend really, the setup of the actual car was close to perfect or at least exactly how I would like it.

“We were struggling on the straights and that makes life very difficult here, and it cost us in terms of results.

“But we’ll move on to the last round at Brands Hatch, it was fun to race there earlier in the year and I can’t wait to race on the GP loop, it’ll be my first time there so I’m excited to learn it and hopefully we’ll be strong.”

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