Strong pace unrewarded on single-seater debut

Strong pace unrewarded for Henry Joslyn on single-seater debut

Rising star Henry Joslyn endured a mixed weekend on his debut in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, with a double pole at Donington Park being followed by a single top ten finish. 

Having stepped into single-seaters on the back of a two-year stint in the Ginetta Junior Championship, Henry was eager to impress on his first outing for the Fortec Motorsports team, which had previously scored the championship title with Luke Browning back in 2020. 

Henry ran well in Thursday testing to set the fourth quickest time, which left him amongst the drivers expected to challenge for pole in Saturday morning’s qualifying session. 

Lapping quicker than anyone had done in testing, Henry stormed to pole position to secure a place at the front of the grid for the third and final race of the weekend, with his second best time proving to be good enough to ensure he would also start race one from the front. 

Maintaining his lead when the opening race got underway, Henry found himself overhauled by August Raber on the third lap but was still running in second spot when the safety car was called onto the track. 

On the restart, Henry came under pressure from James Piszcyk and as the pair went side by side into the chicane, he was forced off into the tyre wall and into retirement. 

The reverse grid second race on Sunday morning saw Henry line up in twelfth place but there was to be more disappointment when he was forced to pit with a puncture after a trip through the gravel avoiding an incident ahead. 

Ultimately retiring for a second time having dropped off the lead lap, Henry’s chance for redemption saw him take his place at the front for the start of race three and although he lost the lead at the start, the teenager was running in a solid fourth spot when the safety car was briefly deployed. 

Unfortunately he would then be one of six drivers to be penalised for exceeding track limits which meant that even though he was running in fourth spot when the action was halted early due to an incident on track, Henry would be classified in an unrepresentative tenth place. 

Henry sits 18th in the standings ahead of round two on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, where he will hope to fight for the results that his pace deserves. 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the weekend with a double pole position in my first ever British F4 qualifying session,” he said. “It gave me a lot of confidence to take into the races but unfortunately things didn’t go my way and we come away from the opening meeting without the kind of results that our pace deserved. 

“Despite that, I’ve been able to learn a huge amount this weekend that I know is going to help me moving forwards through the remainder of the season and I also have to give credit to the team for their hard work - particularly working through the night to make sure I was out on the grid for race two. 

“With Silverstone coming up this weekend, there is a chance for us to bounce back quickly, and I’m looking forward to turning things around and fighting towards the front.”