Alex Dunne is focusing on the positives after his lead in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA was thinned slightly at Knockhill last weekend (29-31 July).
The Hitech GP driver qualified a strong third in damp but drying conditions, made all the more impressive by his absence at a recent wet test day at the Fife circuit, at which almost all his competition were present to gather experience in the tricky conditions.
A steady start kept him in the hunt for a podium finish in the opening race. He kept pole-sitter Ugo Ugochukwu (Carlin), down to second after a lightning start from JHR’s Joseph Loake, under pressure, and an off-track excursion at the Arnold Clark chicane for the McLaren junior netted Dunne second on the road.
The Irish teenager then rose from eighth to fourth in an action-packed reverse grid race, and came within a whisker of snatching yet more silverware, but for a superb defensive drive by Phinsys by Argenti’s Aiden Neate.
The only blemish on an otherwise productive weekend in Scotland for Dunne was race three. Lining up alongside Ugochukwu on the front row for the ITV4-televised finale to the weekend, Dunne was sluggish to get away, and sustained both front wing damage and a slow puncture back in the pack through the first few corners.
That left him bound for the pit lane, and he eventually finished P14, a lap down. With his nearest rivals Ugochukwu and Ollie Gray (Carlin) finishing 1-2, Dunne’s lead in the championship is thinned slightly, from 51 points to 41 with 12 races remaining.
“I think overall it was difficult weekend,” summarises Dunne. “It was so hard to overtake, but I think we managed that quite well, it wasn’t our best weekend but definitely some positives to take!”
Looking ahead to the next three rounds of the championship at Snetterton on 12-14 August, Dunne insists his mindset remains unchanged, and believes the high-speed 300 layout will provide some good racing.
“My mindset is still the same, to have consistent results across the weekend to extend my lead! I really like Snetterton, I think it’s a good combination of fast and flowing, but also slow and technical corners, which hopefully can provide some really good racing!”
