15-year-old Japanese kart racer Douglas Bolger successfully completed his first test programme earlier this month with established F4 British Championship front-runners Carlin.
The two-day test took place 11th-12th August at the historical Pembrey Circuit in Llanelli, Wales, with Douglas sampling the #31 Mygale machine previously piloted by 2019 F4 British champion Zane Maloney. Team Carlin are no strangers to success, having won the last four consecutive F4 British series titles. Current team driver Zak O’Sullivan leads the 2020 championship with Bolger aiming to carry the torch come 2021.
Douglas, known as ‘Dougie’, was greeted with perfect weather as he left the team garage for the first time on Tuesday morning; sunny skies and track temperatures exceeding 40°C. The test programme began with short acclimatisation runs on old tyres at low speed, and once satisfied with his comfort inside the car, Dougie began to push for performance.
Pembrey Circuit has seen the likes of racing legends Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost visit the venue in decades past, and team Carlin has continued the storied tradition of using the Welsh test venue to evaluate new drivers. For Dougie’s test programme, the team planned around 10 short runs in the car, 7-9 laps each, to focus on building consistency and confidence.
By the end of the second day, Dougie had completed over 20 runs in the #31, vastly improving his best time and consistency as he refined his driving with Kokoro Performance coach Kieren Clark. Although no lap times were officially recorded from his debut outing, Dougie’s times were comparable with fellow Kokoro driver Zak O’Sullivan.
Looking back on his first British F4 experience, Dougie said, “The first time I drove the car I was nervous until I completed the install lap, but by going through what I learned with sim and other opportunities, I actually felt really familiar with it. As for the track, everyone said it is really bumpy and not nice, but actually, I liked it. Long enough straight with sharp and fast corners. It was very hot!
Working with the team Carlin for first time, I thought every single one of them was amazing. They worked very hard and I really liked the commitment from each of them, pushing me to improve. I’m really happy with the environment they have built around me.
With Kieren from Kokoro, we worked on car control and confidence. Phrases like the car ‘moving around’, which I never understood using the simulator, became clear quite quickly. I learnt a lot and enjoyed my first experience of Formula 4.”
Kieren Clark, Kokoro Performance coach added; “Good first test for Dougie! We weren’t surprised by how confident he was first jumping in the car with the effort he’s put in on the preparation side away from the track.
We obviously still have plenty of things to work on but as first tests go, it was very impressive. He dealt well with everything we threw at him, and anything he didn’t understand initially, he picked up very quickly. It was extremely hot over the two days there, but Dougie handled it well.”
