Robertson scores points in both races at Zandvoort
Round 4 – Zandvoort – Report
Hitech returned to F1 ACADEMY action at Zandvoort for Round 4, with Rachel Robertson, Ava Dobson and Wild Card entrant Zoe Florescu taking on the Dutch circuit.
The weekend delivered points in both races for Rachel, with Ava also scoring in the Reverse Grid Race, while Romanian-American Zoe showed strong pace on her competitive debut.
Qualifying
A damp circuit made for a disrupted Qualifying session, with the field switching between slicks and wet-weather tyres as conditions evolved.
Rachel, driving the Puma entry, delivered a strong lap to qualify sixth, while Zoe impressed on her competitive debut in the Dirt is Good-liveried car.
The Wild Card driver ran as high as second before setting the seventh-fastest time, putting two Hitech cars inside the top seven. Ava qualified 14th in the American Express entry.
Following the session, Zoe was excluded from the Qualifying classification due to a technical issue, meaning she would start the Feature Race from 18th.
Reverse Grid Race
The opening race on Saturday saw Rachel line up sixth, Ava eighth and Zoe 11th.
Rachel produced a consistent drive in the Puma car to finish sixth and score three championship points, while Ava came home in eighth to add a further point.
Zoe completed her first competitive F1 ACADEMY race in 11th, gaining valuable experience around Zandvoort.
Feature Race
Rachel started the Feature Race from sixth, with Ava lining up 13th and Zoe 18th.
Rachel dropped one position on the opening lap to settle into seventh, while Ava made a strong start to gain a place. Zoe held 18th.
Ava was subsequently shuffled back behind Billard and came under pressure from Stevens, but defended strongly as the race developed.
Rachel held seventh to the chequered flag, securing six championship points and bringing her weekend total to nine.
Ava finished 13th, while Zoe completed the race in 18th.
Dan Hodder, Hitech F1 ACADEMY Team Manager:
“There are a lot of positives for us to take from Zandvoort. Rachel had a strong weekend, scoring points in both races, and Ava also added to her tally in the Reverse Grid Race.”
“Zoe deserves a lot of credit for the pace she showed on her debut. To run as high as P2 in Qualifying and finish inside the top 10 on track was very encouraging, and she adapted well to the car and the weekend.”
Dan continued:
“The Feature Race was more difficult, but the team continued to fight throughout and Rachel brought home a strong seventh place. We’ll take the positives and lessons from Zandvoort and continue working towards the next round.”
The F1 ACADEMY season now heads to the United States for Round 5 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, from 22–25 October.
