Robertson recovers to seventh in Austin Feature Race
Round 5 – Circuit of The Americas – Report
Hitech faced a challenging weekend at the Circuit of The Americas for Round 5 of the F1 ACADEMY season, with Rachel Robertson, Ava Dobson and Wild Card entrant Alexia Danielsson tackling three races at the Texas circuit. Rachel secured seventh place in Sunday’s Feature Race to end the weekend on a positive note, while American driver Ava competed at her home round. Alexia made her competitive debut before an injury ruled her out of the final race.
Qualifying
With just one Free Practice session before Qualifying, Hitech faced a demanding start to the weekend at the 5.513km circuit.
Rachel qualified ninth for Friday’s Opening Race and 10th for the Feature Race. Ava initially qualified 15th and 14th respectively, but received three-place grid penalties for all three races after failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags during practice.
Alexia made her F1 ACADEMY debut in the TeamViewer-operated car, qualifying 16th for the Opening Race and 18th for the Feature Race.
Opening Race
Friday proved frustrating for Hitech, with Rachel and Ava both retiring following separate incidents.
Rachel was caught up in opening-lap contact involving Megan Bruce and Rafaela Ferreira, while Ava’s race ended after contact with Ella Lloyd on Lap 10.
Alexia completed her first competitive F1 ACADEMY race, finishing 16th and gaining valuable experience at the Austin circuit.
Reverse Grid Race
Saturday brought further difficulties, with Rachel finishing 15th and both Ava and Alexia retiring.
Rachel lost her front wing during the race but continued to the finish. Ava was unable to complete the race, while Alexia sustained a wrist injury following an incident involving Jade Jacquet.
After medical assessment, Alexia was declared unfit to compete in Sunday’s Feature Race.
Feature Race
Rachel started 10th for Sunday’s 13-lap race and delivered a strong recovery drive, working her way through the field to finish seventh.
Ava also made progress from 17th on the grid, climbing four places to finish 13th in the American Express entry. A Safety Car on Lap 10 added another challenge in the closing stages, but both drivers reached the chequered flag.
Dan Hodder, Hitech F1 ACADEMY Team Manager:
“It's been a challenging weekend for the team, with incidents and Alexia’s injury making things difficult across the three races. Rachel showed good determination to recover to seventh in the Feature Race, and Ava also made progress on Sunday. We wish Alexia a smooth recovery and will take the lessons from Austin into the next round.”
