RISING motor racing star Charlie Robertson delivered a strong account of himself at the Snetterton 300 Circuit yesterday (Tuesday) ahead of the opening three rounds of the British Racing Drivers Club Formula 4 Championship at Silverstone this weekend.
The 16-year-old from Whyteleafe posted the fifth fastest time overall during officially timed BRDC Formula 4 Championship testing – a great boost just days away from the start of the 2013 season.
Robertson is making the move into 'slicks and wings' single-seater racing for the first time this year and after a consistently competitive showing in Norfolk yesterday, he is feeling rightly confident ahead of this weekend's opening three rounds at Silverstone.
The Caterham School pupil said: "I'm happy with the pace we ran yesterday, we had the full race ballast in the car and we know there's more to come at the weekend.
"I made a mistake on my fastest lap, which I was pretty annoyed about, otherwise I think we would have been second or third for the day."
Lapping seventh fastest during a morning of exploratory work on older Yokohama tyres, the reigning Ginetta Junior Champion posted his quickest time of 1.51.740 seconds (95.65mph) during the afternoon run to move into the top five and end the test as the best of the single-seater newcomers.
And after a winter of positive running in his HHC Motorsport-run MSV F4-013 car, Charlie is now relishing the prospect of getting back to actual on-track competition and cannot wait for the first three races of the inaugural BRDC F4 season at Silverstone's Grand Prix Circuit this weekend.
He said: "We're really looking forward to Silverstone now, it'll be very tight if yesterday's test was anything to go by as the top six were close all day.
"I'm feeling quite confident and we're going into the weekend with no pressure at all, it's a whole new experience for us coming from Ginetta Junior so the main thing is to learn as much as possible in our first year.
"We won't really know where everyone is until the test on Friday at Silverstone, probably even until qualifying really, but I expect to be up there in the mix though. It'll be great to be back racing, if we can come away from the weekend with three good points finishes I'll be happy."
Qualifying and the first round of the season will take place at 10.40am and 2.40pm respectively on Saturday, with rounds two and three following on Sunday, at 11.55am and 3.05pm.
