James Higgins charged to a brace of top-four finishes at Silverstone this past weekend (June 15/16) as the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA reached the halfway mark of the 2024 season.
One week on from scoring a trio of points finishes at Thruxton, the Rodin Motorsport driver was back in action in the single-seater series and duly starred around the Grand Prix circuit, clinching two hard-fought drives to fourth place.
Higgins’ preparations for the weekend saw both he and the rest of the field battle the elements during Friday’s practice session as heavy rain persistently hit the Northamptonshire venue, leaving little chance for dry running.
Overcast conditions hovered over the circuit for Saturday’s ultra-competitive qualifying session, which saw the 18-year-old feature towards the top of the times throughout – before ultimately settling for the fourth fastest time on the grid.
Race one proved to be a relatively tame affair for the BRDC Rising Star, who at one stage had been running as high as third. Locked in a fierce battle with team-mate Alex Ninovic until the latter stages, Higgins dropped to fourth but managed to secure a strong haul of points.
The weekend’s second encounter was somewhat of a rinse and repeat for the multiple race winner as he once again tallied another fourth place finish, after a larger portion of the race had been run behind the safety following a first lap incident further back in the order.
Unfortunately, Higgins’ weekend at Silverstone came to a premature end in race three as contact on the opening lap forced him into retirement.
As the British F4 campaign reaches mid-distance, Higgins currently sits third in the Drivers’ Championship, albeit firmly within striking distance of the standings summit with five events still to run.
James Higgins: “It’s frustrating to end the weekend with a non-finish because effectively all of the hard work that we had put in during races one and two has been undone; that’s how racing goes though sometimes.
“We had top-five pace all weekend however we just couldn’t find that last little bit – be it in me or the car – to enable to us to take home that elusive first win of the season. Everyone at Rodin Motorsport is working hard and I’m optimistic it will come sooner rather than later.
“We’ve reached the halfway point in the season now and we’re sitting in a strong position in the standings. I’m looking forward to going to Zandvoort next and the aim is to start making some serious in-roads to those ahead of us in the points.”
Next on the calendar for the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA is a first-ever overseas event at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on July 13/14.
