Hard-charging Chiara Bättig achieves remarkable sixth-place finish at Brands Hatch

Chiara Bättig produced a remarkable drive as she charged through from 30th on the grid to finish in sixth position in the latest round of the British F4 Championship at Brands Hatch, where following a technical issue in qualifying, the Swiss racer gained an astounding 47 places across the three races.

Photo credits: JEP

Chiara Bättig produced a remarkable drive as she charged through from 30th on the grid to finish in sixth position in the latest round of the British F4 Championship at Brands Hatch. Following a technical issue in qualifying, the Swiss racer gained an astounding 47 places across the three races as she displayed exceptional racecraft in changeable conditions.

Bättig made an encouraging start to her season at Donington Park where she confidently battled in the competitive midfield. Race three was a particular highlight as the Swiss racer charged through from 23rd on the grid to finish in 13th position, just two seconds away from an overall top-10 finish. Her progression in race two earned her four championship points and now Bättig was aiming for an improvement in qualifying in order to maximise her race finishes.

In preparation for the weekend, Bättig participated in the official pre-event test session which was held on Wednesday. It was an extremely positive day of running for the Hitech driver who completed a total of 159 laps on her way to the 16th fastest time. Bättig’s quickest lap of a 45.066 was just over a quarter of a second away from the outright best to further underline the close and competitive nature of the British F4 Championship.

After a positive first day at Brands Hatch on Wednesday, Bättig participated in two further free practice sessions on Friday. The Hitech driver finished both sessions inside the top-15 with her fastest lap of a 45.208 coming in the morning session. Completing a further 76 laps allowed Bättig to gain further knowledge ahead of a revised qualifying format on Saturday morning.

With such a short lap of just 45 seconds around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit and a large grid of 30 cars, qualifying was split into two sessions of 15 cars. Bättig participated in the second session and as the drivers were getting up to speed, the Swiss racer encountered a technical issue. This resulted in the session being red flagged and without a fully representative time on the board, Bättig qualified in 15th position within the second group and would therefore start all three races from the rear of the field.

The opening race of the weekend was held on Saturday afternoon and with the starting positions based upon the second fastest times set in qualifying, Bättig lined up from 30th on the grid. Looking to charge through from the rear of the field, the Swiss racer made a phenomenal start and gained seven positions on lap one to move into 23rd spot. On lap two, Bättig benefited from separate incidents involving Joseph Smith and Cash Felber which moved the Hitech racer into 21st position.

The safety car was then deployed to retrieve the stricken cars, with the Fortec Motorsport machine of Kit Belovsky also stranded out on circuit. Due to the complex recovery required, the race was subsequently red flagged with Bättig retaining her 21st position at the restart with three laps having been completed.

As the lights went out for the restarted race over a revised duration of 17 minutes, Bättig got another superb launch and quickly moved into 19th position. Following a nice move on Jackson Wolny on lap two, Bättig was up to 18th spot with the safety car then deployed after the Chris Dittmann Racing machine of Henry Mercier had stopped on the exit of Graham Hill Bend.

The race restarted on lap nine and Bättig did a nice job to hold her position while she looked to apply pressure to those ahead. As the drivers began lap 11, Bättig almost drew level with Alfie Slater into Paddock Hill Bend while Mate Kobakhidze looked to capitalise. Nice defensive driving from Bättig allowed her to fend of Kobakhidze who then came under pressure from Wolny.

A mistake from Kobakhidze in the closing stages relieved pressure and as a result, Bättig began setting personal best times. On lap 20, a new quickest lap of a 45.888 was just two tenths of a second away from the overall fastest as Bättig looked to close the gap to Slater ahead.

A further improvement on the final lap saw Bättig take the chequered flag in 18th position, before being promoted to 17th following a track limits penalty applied to Haani Sadiq. Gaining 13 positions with limited green flag running with a superb return for Bättig who displayed her racecraft in the first race at Brands Hatch.

Photo credits: JEP

Following a superb performance in race one, Bättig was targeting championship points in race two on Sunday afternoon with up to 10 points awarded for progression from your starting position. Bättig once again lined up from 30th position and the Swiss racer immediately gained six spots on lap one to move into 24th. The safety car was then deployed on lap two after the cars of Cole Hewetson and Roman Felber required recovery with Bättig now into 23rd position.

The race resumed on lap nine and Bättig was immediately applying the pressure to Leon Hedfors who was directly ahead. Overtaking was proving challenging for all drivers and therefore Chiara was looking to force her rival into a mistake. On lap 13, Bättig capitalised on an incident for Haarni Sadiq with the JHR Developments driver going off-track as he battled with Alfie Slater. Now in 22nd position, Bättig was closing in on maximum progression points and with five laps remaining, her tally improved further with Henry Mercier falling outside the top-20.

Bättig continued to apply the pressure to Hedfors in the closing stages of the race with the Swedish racer holding onto the position by just three tenths of a second. Chiara therefore took the chequered flag in 21st position, before later being promoted to 20th following a time penalty assessed to Slater. Bättig was rewarded with ten championship points for her efforts with the Hitech racer achieving her primary goal of collecting maximum progression points from the rear of the field.

Race three of the weekend took place later on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results of qualifying, Bättig was again forced to start from 30th on the grid. However, a rain shower prior to the race meant a dilemma over tyre choice and these mixed conditions were ideal for the Swiss racer to make up positions. Bättig fitted the wet weather tyres along with all of her rivals as the drivers began the formation lap, however a number of cars pitted prior to the start of the race to change onto slicks.

Bättig remained on the wet tyres and with a number of gaps on the grid ahead of her, the Hitech driver moved up from 30th position to 15th by the end of lap one. The safety car was deployed on lap three after an incident involving Haarni Sadiq and now Bättig was up to 14th position. While the race was neutralised, the safety car had failed to pick up the leader with Bättig the first car in line.

After an extended period running at a reduced pace, Bättig was ordered to pass the safety car and catch the rear of the field. Smart driving from the Hitech driver saw Bättig not take significant life out of her wet tyres while she continued to hunt for damper parts of the circuit.

The race resumed on lap 11 and now it was clear that the slick tyres were faster as the track continued to dry. After falling to 19th position, the safety car was deployed for a second time following incidents for both Leon Hedfors and Lewis Wherrell. Bättig chose this opportunity to pit her Hitech machine and fit the slick tyres with the mechanics doing a superb job to ensure she remained on the lead lap.

The race resumed with seven minutes remaining on the clock and Bättig was now in 25th position, albeit with a tyre advantage over around half of the drivers directly ahead. Bättig drove smartly to pick off the wet-shod runners, gaining three positions on the first flying lap before overtaking two further cars on lap 20. Bättig’s racecraft was on show as she passed four drivers on lap 21 to move into 16th position while she remained mistake-free as others slid off the road while attempting overtakes.

With two laps to go, Bättig was up to 12th position as she now targeted points on a remarkable recovery drive. After passing fellow Red Bull supported driver Scott Kin Lindblom on the penultimate lap of the race, Bättig now had a large group of cars ahead of her which included the lead driver on the wet rubber. Placing her car perfectly, Bättig drove superb to pass four further cars on the final lap of the race to finish in seventh position from 30th on the grid.

Following a post-race penalty assessed to Vegard Klemetsen, Bättig was promoted to sixth as she netted a further eight championship points while gaining a remarkable 24 positions from her starting spot. This included moving through from 25th to sixth in just seven racing laps at Brands Hatch while racing on a damp track with slick tyres.

Bättig’s drive in race three was undoubtedly one of the most impressive performances by a female driver in F4 level competition. This performance rounded-off a weekend where the Swiss racer battled back from adversity to gain a remarkable 47 positions over the course of the event at one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar for overtaking.

Bättig is now up to 12th position in the championship standings and she will be looking to break through into the top-10 when the British F4 Championship resumes at Snetterton on the weekend of 23rd/24th May.