Beauly racing driver Ollie Stewart picks up third Rookie Cup win of F4 British Championship season at Snetterton as Scottish teenager reassess ambitions for 2022
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Beauly racing driver Ollie Stewart claimed his third F4 British Championship Rookie Cup win at Snetterton last weekend to round off another hat trick of podium appearances for the teenager.
With positive momentum building every outing, Ollie and the Hitech GP team travelled to Norfolk with hopes of breaking the top five and fighting at the sharp end of the grid, meaning qualifying would set the tone for the weekend.
The young Scot was disappointed to qualify outside of the top five, but with the 10th quickest time he would be able to take advantage of the reverse grid race where he would start on pole position.
As track temperatures soared to over 38 degrees ahead of race one, it would be an added challenge for the young drivers to perform at their best, however Stewart found himself up one position into ninth after making a move down the inside of Aiden Neate into Agostini.
At half distance Rookie Cup rival Ugo Ugochukwu made a mistake which had him tumble down the order, promoting Stewart into eighth, where he crossed the line second of the rookies.
The pressure was on for the reverse grid race, with the chance at a maiden overall win on the cards.
After an initial good start where he held onto the lead, contact early on in the opening lap meant Stewart slipped back four places into fifth.
Showing good pace as he consistently recorded faster lap times than the two cars ahead, he unfortunately couldn’t get close enough to pass.
However, it was an impressive defensive drive from the 15-year-old as he continued to hold off teammate and championship leader Alex Dunne until the chequered flag, as he crossed the line fifth overall and third of the rookies.
After a long morning in the Norfolk heat, Sunday afternoon’s race three rolled around, where Stewart would start from sixth on the grid.
With a quick launch off the line, the youngster was up into fifth on the opening lap and again, in a showing of good pace, Stewart continued to chip away at the gap to team-mate Eduardo Coseteng.
After no further changes in position, the Beauly-based racer crossed the line to take his second top five finish of the weekend, alongside a third rookie win of the season.
Stewart began his debut campaign with the goal of finishing inside of the top 10, but as the season continues, and his rapid progression in the championship becomes clearer, the goalposts have changed.
Now the young racer looks to consistently break the top five, and score his first overall win. He sits 10th in the Driver’s Championship and third in the Rookie Cup as he heads to Thruxton for the next rounds at the end of the month.
“In qualifying I made a really good decision as there was a car off on the inside and I knew my lap was messed up, so I decided to come in early to get another lap but to be honest I wasn't that happy as I didn't have the pace, though the pace was definitely in the car," Stewart said.
"I made little mistakes here and there that cost time. My driving was consistent, but there were a few things that I could have done to get closer to the limit. It was a good result for the reverse grid starting position, but other than that, it wasn't the best.
“Race one I slightly did too much heating of the tyres, so I bogged down at the start. My reaction was really good, and I had a way better reaction than all the drivers around me, but then I dropped the clutch, and the wheels didn't spin at all.
"We managed to get up one place into turn four as I passed Aiden Neate on the inside and then I settled down and started trying to make my way up to Louis Sharp.
“Race two was a bit disappointing. We got a good start initially, good enough to stay in the lead, and then into turn two there was a bit of contact, which, in my opinion, wasn't really my fault. That knocked us right back down the order, so we spent the whole race trying to fight back to where we came from, and we ended up fifth.
"Overall, we had good pace, and it was good to see that the setbacks didn't set me back too far, because I was able to come back through.
“Race three, everyone bogged down because there was so much grip, but my start was really good. I managed to get a place, went into the first corner, and got a slight hit from behind. I was able to get a tiny bit of a gap and I kept trying to chip away at the front, but by that point, they were quite far ahead. Overall, I'm really happy with the pace and it was another big step to make.
“We're definitely getting there. We've had two top fives this weekend and at the start of the season, we were trying to get into the top 10. There have been quite a few times where we deserved an overall podium, but it's definitely coming and once we get the luck we need, we'll definitely be there.”
