Autumn Fisher scores top-20 finish on British F4 Championship debut

Canadian racer Autumn Fisher made an encouraging British F4 Championship debut at Brands Hatch as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver battled mixed conditions to secure a 19th place, while also scoring championship points on her series debut - and just her second ever weekend in F4 machinery.

Photo credits: JEP

Canadian racer Autumn Fisher made an encouraging British F4 Championship debut at Brands Hatch as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver battled mixed conditions to secure a 19th place, while also scoring championship points on her series debut.

Racing in just her second ever weekend in F4 machinery, Fisher made consistent progress over the course of the event which culminated in a strong drive to 19th position in race three from 28th on the grid.

Fisher made her F4 level debut at Nogaro in the French F4 Championship last month and she now arrived at Brands Hatch looking to build upon this experience. Achieving a best result of 24th, Fisher banked valuable knowledge at Circuit Paul Armagnac where she continued to take steps forward with each session.

Joining the British F4 Championship posed a further challenge with both the chassis and engine differing to those used in the French series. Therefore, Fisher was looking to lean upon her Chris Dittmann Racing teammates and engineers to extract maximum performance despite her inexperience.

Fisher’s first on-track action came on Wednesday as she participated in the official pre-event test day.

This additional running proved extremely valuable for the Canadian racer who completed 145 laps while displaying significant improvements across both sessions. Fisher ended the day with a fastest lap time of a 45.534 which placed her in 28th position overall, 11th among the rookie drivers, and just three quarters of a second away from the outright quickest time.

After a break on Thursday, the drivers returned to Brands Hatch on Friday for two free practice sessions. Fisher’s fastest time came in the afternoon session where she seta quickest lap of a 45.822. Although this lap placed her in 30th position, Fisher’s optimum sectors placed her inside the top-25 with her speed through the first part of the lap particularly impressive.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and the drivers were split into two groups of 15 in order to provide fairer conditions with the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Fisher drove in the second group and the Chris Dittmann Racing driver had 15 minutes in which to set a fast lap time. Her progress was halted halfway through the session after the car of Chiara Bättig stopped out on circuit and qualifying was subsequently red flagged.

With just six minutes remaining on the clock, the green flag was displayed and Fisher was keen to improve upon her fastest time. Setting her quickest lap in the final minutes of the session, Fisher ended qualifying in 14th place within the second group with a fastest time of a 46.104.

Fisher’s debut race in the British F4 Championship was held on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the second fastest times set in qualifying, the Canadian racer lined up from 28th spot. As the lights went out, Fisher got off the line cleanly and made a fantastic start as she gained four positions to move into 24th at the end of lap one.

After separate incidents involving Joseph Smith and Cash Felber at Druids on lap two, Fisher was up to 23rd position with Leon Hedfors now ahead. Due to the stricken cars of Smith, Felber and Kit Belovsky, the race was initially brought under safety car conditions before being red flagged. Due to three laps having been completed, the cars lined up on the grid in the order at which they were running at the stoppage.

The new race distance was set at 17 minutes and Fisher made another clean start, completing the opening lap in 25th position. On lap two of the restarted race, teammate Daniella Sutton moved ahead while a recovering Roman Felber also made his way through. Fisher was then able to regain lost positions as Sutton pitted for a new front wing, while Henry Mercier stopped out on circuit and this delayed Vegard Klemetsen. With Mercier’s car requiring recovery, the race was brought under safety car conditions with Fisher running in 24th position.

The green flag was shown on lap nine and Klemetsen overtook Fisher, before the Chris Dittmann Racing driver settled into a mid-race rhythm. Fisher remained consistent as she banked valuable experience while initially remaining in contention with the drivers ahead. Although Klemetsen and Felber began to edge away in the closing stages, the Canadian racer banked valuable knowledge on her British F4 Championship debut to take the chequered flag in 25th position.

Photo credits: JEP

Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and although some drops of rain were falling, the track remained dry. The grid positions were based upon the results of qualifying with a partial reversal at the head of the field and this meant that Fisher lined up from 28th position on the grid. Autumn made a clean start and maintained her position during the opening lap before the safety car was deployed on lap two following incidents for both Cole Hewetson and Roman Felber.

With both drivers out of the race and Vegard Klemetsen pitting for a new front wing, Fisher was now up to 26th position as the race restarted on lap nine. Klemetsen was able to pass Fisher on the restart, however the Canadian racer remained in contention with the group of more experienced drivers ahead. This was a sign of her quick progress and adaptation to the Tatuus T-421 machine over the course of the week.

On lap 13, an off-track moment for Haarni Sadiq promoted Fisher into 26th position once more with the JHR Developments driver rejoining the circuit just behind. On lap 17, Fisher ran her quickest lap of the race with a 46.228 just a quarter of a second away from top-15 pace. The following lap saw the Canadian racer enter the top-25 after Klemetsen went off-track as he battled with Sun Anzhe.

Sadiq then overtook Fisher on lap 20 with the Chris Dittmann Racing driver still maintaining a strong pace compared to those ahead. A consistent run to the chequered flag saw Autumn finish the second race of the weekend in 26th position and in the process, she scored her first two championship points in the series after progressing two spots from her starting position.

The final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon posed further challenges for Fisher with a wet track leading to a decision over tyre choice. All of the drivers left the assembly area on the wet tyre, while some decided to pit at the end of the formation lap to change onto slicks. Fisher remained on the wet tyre and lined up from 28th position on the grid with the starting order based upon the results from qualifying.

Fisher took full advantage over the gaps in the grid ahead of her as she completed lap one in 18th position, before moving up to 17th as the safety car was deployed to retrieve the stricken car of Haarni Sadiq. While the race was neutralised, a number of drivers pitted to change onto slick tyres as the crossover point was close to being reached.

Fisher remained on the circuit and as a result, she ran from 16th position while the drivers directly behind were predominantly on slicks. This made the restart challenging for the Canadian racer, however she did a nice job to avoid contact while those behind made their way through on cold slick rubber. Fisher fell to 28th position on lap 12, however a number of incidents then unfolded ahead while those on slicks found overtaking on the damp parts of the track treacherous.

This resulted in a second safety car period beginning on lap 14 with Fisher now back inside the top-25. As more drivers ahead switched their wet tyres for slicks behind the safety car, Fisher moved up to 23rd position when the race resumed on lap 18. After losing out to the slick-shod machine of Chiara Bättig, Fisher was then involved in a superb battle with teammate Daniella Sutton as both Chris Dittmann Racing drivers remained on the wet tyres.

On lap 20, Fisher got a good exit out of Paddock Hill bend and this allowed her to look to the inside of Sutton into Druids. Fisher completed the pass on the exit of the corner and she therefore claimed 22nd spot. As those on the slick tyres became eager to move through the field in the closing stages, mistakes occurred ahead and Fisher was able to benefit. With five laps remaining, Autumn was inside the top-20 and her speed was competitive to those ahead who were also on the wet tyres.

As Timo Jungling and Jaber Alsabah made mistakes ahead, Fisher continued to move forward and she began the final lap of the race as high as 18th. Although Alsabah reclaimed the position on the final lap, it was a superb end to the weekend for Fisher who finished in 19th position after starting from 28th on the grid.

Fisher enjoyed an encouraging debut weekend in the British F4 Championship where she completed three clean races while also scoring championship points. Her pace in both wet and dry conditions was impressive considering her inexperience in the car and this knowledge will serve her well during the remainder of the season. Fisher returns to action in less than one week in the French F4 Championship as the drivers visit the iconic Dijon-Prenois circuit on the weekend of 16th/17th May.