Daniel Guinchard was able to salvage two points finishes from a difficult trip to Thruxton in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA last weekend [3-4 June].
The 17-year-old from London, UK arrived at the high-speed Hampshire circuit looking to bounce back from an equally frustrating trip to Snetterton last time out, in which a combination of mechanical issues and red flags hindered his consistent run of podium finishes.
The Chris Dittmann Racing star had topped pre-season testing at the 2.4-mile venue but had to settle for seventh in qualifying on Saturday morning, the gap from the fourth row to pole position a remarkable 0.097 seconds.
Thruxton is a circuit well-suited to overtaking, characterised by its high-speed, flowing nature. But Daniel would be denied an early opportunity to move through the pack, with contact from another car in the opening race damaging his front wing and forcing him to pit. He re-joined a lap down and took the flag in P21.
The reverse grid race proved to be a cleaner affair but, mired in the midfield by virtue of qualifying well, Guinchard could only rise three spots to P14.
The weekend ended on a high note, however, with an eighth-placed finish in the ITV4-televised finale to ensure the two-time British Karting Champion stays in touch with those just ahead in the championship standings.
Oulton Park’s Island circuit hosts the next three rounds of the 2023 season, on 17-18 June.
Daniel Guinchard (#49) said:
“Overall, it was quite an unlucky weekend, but the team have discovered a problem with the chassis since returning to the workshop, so that goes some way to explaining why we struggled so much at Thruxton.
“It’s good to salvage some points, and fundamentally, we just have to take this weekend on the chin. We’re having a bit of a bad luck streak at the moment, but it happens to everybody at some point over a 30-race season. Hopefully that’s ours out of the way, now.
“I’m really looking forward to Oulton next time out. It’s a circuit I enjoy, and it has happy memories as the place where I took my first win last year.
“I feel like five times the driver I was then, now, so if we’re in the sweet spot with the car – and my fantastic team at CDR are absolutely on it at the moment – then it should be the perfect opportunity to get us back on track.”
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