Charlie Robertson is aiming to challenge for the first podium of his maiden season in single-seaters when the BRDC Formula 4 Championship travels to his home track, Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, for the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds of the 2013 campaign next weekend, 18th/19th May.
Whyteleafe teenager Charlie, who drives for leading team HHC Motorsport, heads into the second event of the season fifth in the championship standingswith a best result so far of fourth place to his creditafter a consistently competitive outing at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit two weeks ago.
Graduating into single-seater racing this year after winning the Ginetta Junior title in 2012, the Investigo-backed driver made a solid start on his Formula 4 bow and was within just 1.5 seconds of climbing the rostrum during round three.
With a lot of home support expected to cheer 16-year-old Charlie on next weekend at Brands Hatch, the event will also be the biggest of the year for the F4 contingent with the category running on the support card for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and spectacular DTM touring cars.
Im really looking forward to Brands, its always great to race there and well have a lot of friends and family coming along so Im determined to have a good weekend and try and get on the podium if we can, said the Caterham School pupil.
Itll definitely be the biggest race weekend Ive ever been involved in, the DTM always attracts massive crowds so thatll be a nice boost. Silverstone wasnt a bad start to the season at all, we wanted to come away with strong points scores from each of the races and we managed that. The aim now is to build on that at Brands and keep moving forward.
One of the main challenges for Charlie will be to qualify as high up the order as possible at Brands Hatch with overtaking at the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit notoriously difficult. Starting on the first couple of rows of the grid is of paramount importance at the Kent track so the MSA Academy racer is targeting a strong qualifying performance as a priority.
Qualifying is always a big part of the weekend but especially at Brands Indy, he said, Youve really got to get it right and put a good lap together. In Ginetta Junior it wasnt so much of a problem but in a single-seater like the F4 car, the chances to overtake are really limited. Hopefully we can qualify well and then take things from there.
Provisionally, BRDC Formula 4 Championship qualifying will take place at 12.00 next Saturday, 18th May, with the first race of the weekend following at 15.20. On Sunday, 19th May, round five is set to begin at 14.15 with round six expected to commence at 16.40.
Provisional 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship Standings (after Rd3):5th Charlie Robertson, 48pts
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