Top-20 finish for Daniella Sutton at Donington Park

Daniella Sutton added her to her points tally in the British F4 Championship as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver again matched her career best finish of P20 in a weekend where the young driver took steps forward in both qualifying performance and race pace.

Photo credits: JEP

Daniella Sutton added her to her points tally in the British F4 Championship as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver again matched her career best finish of 20^th in a weekend where the young driver took steps forward in both qualifying performance and race pace.

Following a fantastic weekend at Thruxton where Sutton secured her largest haul of championship points to date, the Chris Dittmann Racing driver was aiming to carry forward this momentum into Donington Park. Racing at Britain’s fastest circuit, Sutton matched her career best result of 20^th while earning nine valuable points via her progression in race two. This elevated Sutton into 23^rd position in the championship standings and now she was targeting a spot inside the top-20.

Returning to a circuit for the first time was a new experience for Sutton in the British F4 Championship and although the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit has different characteristics to the National layout, the prior experience remained valuable. Sutton earned seven championship points on her debut British F4 Championship weekend in April and Daniella was now looking to draw upon this experience in round seven. 

Sutton gained knowledge of the Donington Park Grand Prix layout following an official test day which was held shortly after the previous round at Thruxton. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver overcame challenges throughout the day to set a fastest lap of a 1:30.416 which placed her in 27^th position overall. 

The drivers returned to Donington Park on Thursday prior to the race weekend with two free practice sessions taking place. Conditions were markedly different for free practice with the first session held in mixed conditions. After fitting the wet tyres for the first half of the session, Sutton banked valuable knowledge of running slicks on a damp track as she set the 29^th quickest time.

Free practice two was also held in changeable conditions with Sutton lapping extremely competitively during the wet portion of the session. Completing 39 laps across the day, the most of any driver, Sutton set the 29^th quickest lap with a fastest time of a 1:31.901. 

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with dry conditions returning at Donington Park. After a short run to open the session, Sutton fitted a new set of tyres for the second half of qualifying. Taking a significant step forward, Daniella showed superb pace as she qualified in 27^th position with a fastest lap of a 1:30.764. This time was just over half a second away from reverse grid pole, while Sutton set the 16^th fastest time through the final sector.

Photo credits: JEP

Race one of the weekend was held on Saturday afternoon and following a consistent qualifying session, Sutton enjoyed her second highest starting position of the season. With the grid based upon the second fastest times from qualifying, the Chris Dittmann Racing driver lined up from 24^th spot.

As the lights went out, Sutton made a good start and avoided two stalled cars while a number of incidents unfolded around her. Taking superb avoidance at the Fogarty Esses after Roman Felber spun, Sutton completed lap one in 20^th position as she competed confidently in the midfield. 

As the Chris Dittmann Racing driver aimed to consolidate her position, Sutton was spun by Timo Jungling on lap two and this dropped her to the rear of the field. Fortunately, her car was undamaged and now running in 29^th position, Sutton was hoping for a safety car period in which to catch the field.

After getting back into her rhythm, Sutton’s pace was extremely competitive and following a personal best time of a 1:31.397 on lap six, she was circulating just half a second slower than the drivers inside the top-10. Despite a number of close battles emerging just ahead, contact was avoided and therefore the remained of the race was held under green flag conditions.

Nonetheless, Sutton continued to push and on lap nine, she improved her fastest lap once more. Now setting a time of a 1:30.985, Daniella was less than a quarter of a second away from her qualifying benchmark. Her speed through the final sector was again impressive as she set the 12^th quickest time through this challenging part of the circuit, while being less than one tenth of a second away from the fourth fastest sector time. 

Taking the chequered flag in 29^th position, Sutton’s result did not reflect the speed she displayed as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver continued to take strides forward in performance. Jungling was later penalised for the contact with Sutton, however the penalty applied did not reverse the positions between the drivers. 

Photo credits: JEP

Aiming to bounce back and score championship points in race two of the weekend, Sutton lined up from 27^th position on Sunday morning. As the lights went out, Sutton did well to avoid the stalled car of Haarni Sadiq. Completing the first lap in 28^th position, Daniella then enjoyed a close battle with Sadiq as the drivers began lap two. 

Although Sadiq pulled clear, Sutton remained with the midfield group and this enabled her to move back up to 27^th position after Mate Kobakhidze pitted for a new front wing. Sutton was now closing in on debutant Justin Di Lucia and the Chris Dittmann Racing driver shaped for a move into Redgate corner.

Di Lucia retained the position with Sutton settling into 27^th as the race settled into an early rhythm. On lap five, Jaber Alsabah spun into the gravel at the Old Hairpin and the recovery of his Xcel Motorsport machine resulted in the safety car being deployed. During the neutralisation, Sutton ran in 26^th position and was set to score a championship point via her progression.

The race resumed on lap eight and although Sutton was passed by both Kobakhidze and Timo Jungling, Daniella moved ahead of Sun Anzhe. Now in 27^th position, Sutton was looking to make up positions in the second half of the race with her speed through the final sector providing further cause for optimism.

On lap 11, Sutton overtook Leon Hedfors at Redgate to move into 26^th and therefore back into a points scoring position. On the final lap of the contest, Sadiq ran wide at McLeans and Sutton took advantage to move ahead of the JHR Developments driver. Taking the chequered flag in 25^th position, Sutton scored two championship points in the second race at Donington Park with a clean and measured drive. 

Photo credits: JEP

Race three took place on Sunday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results from qualifying, Sutton lined up from 27^th position. It was an excellent start from Sutton as she showed superb racecraft to move up to 22^nd position. Although Daniella slipped to 25^th at the end of lap two, it was a positive start to the race as she looked to gain back positions. 

On lap three, the safety car was deployed after debutant Alex O’Grady became beached in the gravel at Coppice. Sutton had fallen behind teammate Piotr Orzechowski but remained in 25^th position after benefiting from O’Grady’s misfortune. 

The race resumed on lap seven and Sutton immediately gained a further position after Jaber Alsabah hit the barriers on the exit of the final corner. Now into 24^th position, Sutton continued to gain ground after an incident saw racer leaders Tommy Harfield and Ethan Jeff Hall make contact at McLeans. Despite Haarni Sadiq and Jackson Wolny moving ahead, Sutton ran in 24^th spot as the race entered a second safety car period.

When the race resumed, Sutton was looking to gain ground and after remaining close to the midfield battles, a multi-car incident unfolded ahead. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver did a superb job to avoid Alfie Slater, Ethan Carney and Timo Jungling who came together at the final corner. On lap 12, Sadiq and Sun Anzhe went off the road at the Old Hairpin with the race subsequently red flagged due to the two separate incidents.

Sutton’s smart driving resulted in a superb 20^th place finish, again matching her career best finish achieved at both Brands Hatch and Thruxton. It was another encouraging weekend for the Chris Dittmann Racing driver who took a good step forward in qualifying, before showing promising race pace culminating in her third top-20 result. Sutton will be back on track when the British F4 Championship drivers visit Croft on the weekend of 5^th/6^th September.