Chiara Bättig achieves double top-15 at Snetterton
- LIAM REDFORD
- 3 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Hitech driver Chiara Bättig continued her progress in the British F4 Championship as the Swiss racer twice finished in the top-15 at Snetterton while securing five championship points with a confident drive in race two.
Hitech driver Chiara Bättig continued her progress in the British F4 Championship as the Swiss racer twice finished in the top-15 at Snetterton while securing five championship points with a confident drive in race two.
Following a superb weekend last time out at Brands Hatch, Bättig arrived at Snetterton looking to build upon this momentum. Despite a technical issue leaving her at the back of the grid for all three races, the Hitech driver gained a phenomenal 47 positions during the event. A storming drive through the field in mixed conditions during race three saw Bättig finish in sixth after starting from 30th position.
Despite her relative inexperience in F4-level competition, Bättig has displayed excellent racecraft in the opening two rounds of the season and she was now targeting a strong qualifying performance to enable her to contend for points finishes across all three races.
The event began on Wednesday as the drivers participated in four short test sessions. It was an extremely positive day for Bättig who was consistently among the fastest drivers. Completing 76 laps across the course of the day, the Hitech driver set a quickest time of a 1:48.938 which placed her in 13th position overall. Bättig set this lap during the fourth session where she finished in eighth position and just half a second away from the fastest time set by Dries Van Langendonck.
The drivers returned to Snetterton on Friday for a pair of free practice sessions held in warmer conditions. Bättig delivered one of the most consistent performances of the day and the Swiss racer was only one of five drivers who improved in the afternoon session. Bättig finished this session inside the top-10 as the Hitech driver ended the day with the 18th quickest time.
Qualifying was held on Saturday morning with Bättig aiming to put herself in reverse grid contention. The first half of the session was strong for the Hitech racer who sat in eighth position with less than ten minutes remaining. As the drivers continued to improve on their new tyres, Bättig lost her fastest lap due to track limits infringements. At the end of qualifying, the Swiss racer had set the 19th quickest time with her 1:49.725 placing her just eighth tenths of a second away from the pole position lap set by Lewis Wherrell.
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and with the grid based upon the second fastest times from qualifying, Bättig lined up from 17th position. It was a challenging opening lap for the Hitech driver who dropped to 19th position while battling in the competitive midfield. On lap two, Tommy Harfield received contact at turn one and after his Chris Dittmann Racing machine hit the barriers, the safety car was deployed.
Overtaking was proving difficult throughout the field and forcing the driver ahead into a mistake was a good strategy in order to move forward. The gaps between the drivers in the midfield remained at around half a second for the remainder of the contest with Bättig continuing to look for a way past Hewetson in the closing stage. Bättig took the chequered flag in 17th position to complete a productive opening race at Snetterton where she showed good speed in pursuit of a strong result.
Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with the grid positions formed by the results of qualifying with the top-12 positions reversed. Bättig lined up from 19th on the grid and the Swiss racer made a good start as she moved into 18th at the conclusion of lap one. Bättig was keen to make further progress with progression points awarded to the drivers for positions gained from their starting spot in the second race of each event.
Beginning lap two almost three-wide with Haarni Sadiq and Ethan Carney, Bättig passed both rivals with a superb move as the Hitech driver climbed to 16th. The safety car was then deployed after the car of Piotr Orzechowski’s car required recovery after a crash approaching the Wilson hairpin. As the race resumed just past the halfway mark, Tommy Harfield pitted which elevated Bättig inside the top-15.
The positions within the midfield were again closely contested and Bättig was looking to make a move on the Chris Dittmann Racing machine of Henry Mercier. On lap seven, Bättig set the fastest middle sector of any driver as the Hitech racer was again displaying frontrunning pace. This brought Bättig onto the tail of Mercier and she began lap eight just one tenth of a second behind her rival.
Mercier defended his position well and Bättig was also keen to ensure she remained within the top-15 as she was currently in a points-paying spot. It was a clean run to the chequered flag with Bättig crossing the line in 15th position, later promoted to 14th after a penalty issued to Jarrett Clark, with the Hitech driver banking five valuable championship points.
The final race at Snetterton was held on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results of qualifying, Bättig lined up from 19th position. It was a good start for the Hitech driver who gained two positions on lap one while Bättig did a good job to avoid a multi-car incident ahead. With four drivers retiring from the race and three of those stuck on the exit of turn one, the safety car was quickly deployed.
Due to the complex recovery of the cars, the race was subsequently red flagged with the race resuming over a new distance of 12 minutes. The drivers left the pits behind the safety car and therefore the green flag was displayed with just nine minutes remaining. Bättig was quick to move forward on the restart as she overtook Ethan Carney on the first flying lap before the Swiss racer climbed inside the top-15 following an off-track moment for Joseph Smith.
After Cash Felber ran wide on the exit of the first turn on lap four, Bättig was up to 14th and she was once again behind Henry Mercier. Bättig applied significant pressure to the American driver in the closing stages of the race as she shaped for a move. The Hitech driver got a fantastic run out of Murrays on the final lap and crossed the line just half a tenth of a second behind Mercier to secure her second top-15 result of the weekend with a 14th place finish.
Bättig again showed good speed as she competed in the tight midfield at Snetterton. Her progress in race two netted her five further championship points which was a deserved reward from a hard-fought performance.
Bättig will be targeting a push towards the top-10 when the British F4 Championship returns at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit next weekend where the drivers compete for the BRDC International Trophy.