Discovered…
Dan Wright
“You need to be patient on the throttle, keep it nice and smooth and enjoy it.” The advice from Chart Sutton’s Tom Jackson was left ringing in my ears as I trundled down the Brands Hatch pit lane, strapped tightly into one of the circuit’s new F4 Master machines. I have enjoyed watching hundreds of races from the spectator banks but driving around the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit made for a totally different experience. Used in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship as recently as last September, the 2.0-litre single-seater comes with a myriad of buttons on a multidisplay steering wheel. “It is a great tool for something like this,” says Tom, 20, who competed in the F4 series for track,” Tom said, as I got used to the paddleshift gear change with him by my side. “It is a good starting point as you have people come along who have never driven an automatic car before and have never been on a race track but they can get in and click quickly with it.” I certainly got stuck in but was a tad too keen in parts, understeering my way around the Druids hairpin after carrying too much speed into the tight turn on one lap. “Some people are coming to experience the enjoyment of driving around a race track, while others are here for lap times,” Tom says. “You want to experience the thrill of giving it everything and being on the edge – you just need to be more patient.” I took Tom’s advice on board and slowly built up my speed once left to my own devices in the F4. Developed by Van Diemen’s Ralph Firman, the Duratecpowered MSV F4- 013 car chucked out 185bhp when raced competitively.
It may now