James Higgins added to his silverware collection in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA this past weekend (12/13 August) as he charged onto the second step of the podium in race two at Knockhill.
On what proved to be a challenging outing north of the border, the Fortec Motorsport driver showed his fighting spirit to claim runners-up laurels in a frenetic reverse grid encounter.
Saturday at the Scottish circuit proved to be one to forget for the 17-year-old – who was a race winner at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park earlier in the season – as he was left with little to show for his efforts.
Qualifying would see heavy rain batter the circuit, making hooking a lap up around the undulating 1.27-mile layout even more challenging. Despite his best efforts, Higgins punched in a best time of 55.008s for 16th on the grid for race one.
Blasting away from the eighth row, the Goblin EV-backed teenager showcased his impressive overtaking prowess as he carved his way up the order – producing a number of eye-catching moves at a variety of corners.
Running comfortably inside the top ten entering the final few laps, the former karting ace found himself the innocent victim of contact which sent him spinning off the track and into the wall – ending his race on the spot.
Dusting himself down for the first of Sunday’s two contests, Higgins put the disappointment of the day before behind him with a superlative drive onto the podium in race two.
Starting from third, the single-seater ace wasted no time in dispatching Douwe Dedecker and then he set off after race leader Deagen Fairclough, shadowing him all the way to the chequered flag.
Higgins then brought the curtain down on his weekend with another measured drive, charging from the rear of the field to just miss out on the top ten in 11th.
James Higgins: “It’s been another one of those up and down weekend’s where things haven’t really gone my way. Still, whenever you’re going home with a trophy you can’t be too disheartened so we’ll try and take the positives.
“We struggled to hook things up in qualifying and that sort of set the tone for race one. Starting at the back was always going to be a challenge but we made the best of the conditions and fought forward, until we were put in the wall.
“To bounce back with a podium in race two and then to just miss out on the top ten in race three was a nice way to end things. It’s a solid reward for the team cause they’ve put in an absolute shift.
“We’ve got two more events to go so I’m fully focused on chasing more big results. If we can come away with a few more wins I’d be buzzing.”
The ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA continues on 26/27 August with Rounds 25, 26 & 27 taking place around the Grand Prix layout of Donington Park.
