Emily Cotty makes encouraging British F4 Championship debut at Silverstone

Emily Cotty made her single seater debut in the British F4 Championship at Silverstone, securing two top-20 finishes despite challenging wet conditions, showcasing significant progress throughout the event.

Emily Cotty achieved two top-20 finishes on her debut in the British F4 Championship at Silverstone. Driving for Phinsys by Argenti, Cotty made significant progress during the course of the event as she battled changeable conditions on her single seater debut.

After qualifying in 22nd position, Cotty finished race one in 19th position, before improving one spot to 18th in race two. The third race of the event was cancelled following adverse weather conditions as heavy rain persisted at the home of British motorsport.

Following a successful career in karting and a number of prior British F4 Championship tests under her belt, Cotty was ready to make her debut in the series at Silverstone. Racing with leading team Phinsys by Argenti, Emily’s main target was to make steady improvements during the weekend while getting her first taste of competitive single seater competition.

On-track action at Silverstone began with a number of test sessions on both Thursday and Friday, enabling Cotty to gain vital experience in dry conditions. After a productive full day of running on Thursday, Emily took part in two further sessions on Friday with the track time shared with the other championships on the TOCA package. Setting her fastest time of the day in the second session, Cotty set the 22nd fastest time but was just one second away from the quickest lap set by Deagen Fairclough.

Qualifying gave Cotty a further chance to gain experience and was her first competitive session in the British F4 Championship. The Phinsys by Argenti driver built up her speed during the course of the session and set her quickest time on her final lap of qualifying. Her fastest effort of a 55.675 placed her 22nd and was just one tenth of a second slower than full-season competitor Yuhao Fu, underlining Cotty’s rapid development on her debut weekend.

The grid for race one at Silverstone was based on the second fastest times set in qualifying and although Cotty was set to line up in 22nd position, she was promoted to 19th following grid penalties for her rivals. Conditions were challenging as rain had fallen prior to the start, with all drivers remaining on the slick tyres.

Emily made a clean start to her first single seater race and although she fell to 21st, Cotty remained in contention with the drivers ahead. A recovering Leo Robinson was then able to move ahead, however Cotty was able to settle into a rhythm quickly.

By lap four, she was back inside the top-20 after Bart Harrison had a moment and Zack Scoular had pitted with damage. Cotty was doing a superb job of improving her times during the middle portion of the race and was holding her own nicely in spite of her lack of experience.

After Alex Ninovic pitted, Emily was up to 19th and continuing to maintain consistency while banking vital experience. At the end of the twenty-minute race, Cotty took the checkered flag in 19th position to end a solid debut race in the British F4 Championship.

Cotty faced a further challenge in race two of the weekend as persistent rain led to a wet track with all drivers fitting the wet weather tyres. Lining up from 22nd on the grid, the Phinsys by Argenti made a clean start, however a number of competitors ahead stalled and with one collected by another driver, the race was red flagged before the conclusion of the opening lap.

As a result, the race resumed behind the safety car with the drivers given two further laps to assess conditions prior to green flag racing getting underway. Conditions remained extremely challenging as the drivers got back up to speed and as a result, the red flag was shown once again and this time the drivers were directed into the pits due to heavy rain and standing water at Silverstone. The race was subsequently postponed to the end of the day with the hope of improved weather conditions.

The third scheduled race of the weekend was the contest set by the driver’s fastest lap times from qualifying and therefore Cotty was set to start from 22nd position. However, due to the damage sustained by two of her rivals ahead, she was promoted to 20th position with the race starting behind the safety car. Although conditions had improved from the morning, the track was still wet and therefore a rolling start was deemed the safest option.

Following three laps behind the safety car, green flag racing got underway and Cotty was immediately on the move, ending lap four in 17th position. Two separate incidents ahead led to the safety car being re-deployed, with Alex Ninovic’s Rodin Motorsport machine requiring recovery. When racing resumed for the second time, a hard-charging Leo Robinson moved ahead with Cotty settling in behind.

In the middle portion of the race, Cotty’s pace was strong with her middle sector time especially matching the majority of those in the midfield. Following a spin for August Raber, Emily was up to 17th on lap ten before Raber was able to find a way through as the race entered the closing stages. The Phinsys by Argenti driver took the checkered flag in 18th position to end a valuable race of development in challenging conditions.

After the postponement of the second race earlier in the day, it was rescheduled as the last on-track action at Silverstone. Unfortunately further heavy rain and standing water led to the race being cancelled with the track unsafe for the young single seater drivers.

Nevertheless, it was an extremely encouraging debut weekend in single seaters for Cotty who made good improvements in both wet and dry conditions. She will be looking to carry forward the knowledge gained into the final round of the British F4 Championship which takes place at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 5th/6th October.