Japanese racer Dougie Bolger achieved his first ever British F4 race win at yesterday’s three-round event at Croft Circuit. After a disappointing qualifying session, Dougie demonstrated his talent by holding off a challenging competitor for four laps to keep the race lead and secure the victory.
The event began with a day of testing on Friday in which Dougie and his peers familiarised themselves with the Yorkshire circuit. Finishing within the top 10 in both test sessions, it seemed that there was potential for a very strong weekend for him.
With Qualifying and two races taking place on Saturday, it was set to be an intense day for the F4 drivers. In the early stages of Qualifying, Bolger revealed some strong pace, but sadly his session was soon ruined when he caught the grass and skated into the barrier, causing a red flag. Whilst Dougie was thankfully unhurt, the car suffered damage to the suspension and wheels, and it would prove a monumental task for the team to fix the car before Race 1 just over 3 hours later.
Due to his lack of Qualifying time, Dougie would start 16th in Races 1 and 3, whilst reverse grid Race 2 would see him line up on pole. Thanks to a huge team effort, the Carlin crew were able to have the car fixed 30 minutes before the first race, enabling Bolger to compete. Starting from the back, the 16-year-old’s main goal was to gain positions whilst keeping his car in one piece ahead of the afternoon’s P1 race start. Finishing P15 in the end, all focus then turned to prep for Race 2.
In his first F4 race starting from pole, Bolger kept his composure and was strong off the line. Remaining ahead of his teammates Askey and Inthraphuvasak, the three began to pull a gap ahead of 4th place, teasing at a potential all-Carlin podium. Before long, Inthraphuvasak closed in on Askey and the pair began to fight for second place. Whilst battles raged on behind him, Dougie continued to push forward.
When his teammates eventually switched positions after a daring move from Inthraphuvasak, the Thai racer came after Bolger to challenge for the lead. Taking learnings from past races, Dougie put up a solid defence, predicting his teammate’s moves and remaining ahead. The fight continued for at least four more circuits of the 2.1 mile track but Bolger kept the advantage and crossed the line as race winner, waving to his crew who celebrated on the pit wall.
After his maiden victory in F4, Dougie said:
“To achieve my first win in British F4 is such a special moment. I can’t thank Adam, Dean, Neil and the rest of the Carlin boys enough for their incredibly hard work all season, and especially to get my car fixed for the race today. They deserve this win too. Thanks also to the Kokoro Performance team, it seems our work together is really paying off! I hope to continue this momentum into tomorrow’s race and future rounds.”
Knowing he would start last in Sunday’s Race 3, Bolger arrived with a give-it-my-all attitude fuelled by yesterday’s win. The F4 ensemble had to wait until almost 2pm to hit the track, lining up in front of a packed Croft crowd.
With plenty of action in the first two laps, Dougie kept it clean whilst fighting with two Arden cars, also taking advantage of an incident up ahead and climbing to 13th. From this point on he held his ground, completing the race in P13 having gained on his tough starting position.
Discussing the weekend’s final race, Bolger stated:
“It was hard starting from last in Race 3, and after Lap 2 I wasn’t able to gain any further positions. However, there were many good battles and very positive moments in the race so I’ll carry this into next weekend. Thank you for the all the support this weekend!”
Kokoro Performance’s Kieren Clark added:
“Seeing Dougie achieve his maiden F4 win this weekend was a really incredible moment. He has worked so hard all season and a result like this was a long time coming. I think this weekend should increase his confidence going forward and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve at future rounds.”
The British F4 Championship continues this weekend with Rounds 22/23/24 at Silverstone Circuit.
