Rodin Carlin’s John Bennett enjoyed a return to top-10 form at Brands Hatch, as the British contender posted his best qualifying and race results since Silverstone in May.
The 19-year-old was seventh quickest in qualifying, despite being held up by traffic in the final sector of his best lap, though the shortened session due to a late red flag meant that his second best time was good enough only for 13th.
He was able to convert seventh to the same place in the opening race of the event, was 16th in the second contest, and then matched his personal best haul of positions gained points in the final race, rising eight places from 18th on the grid to end his weekend back inside the top-10.
“I think that was a much better reading of our pace and what we can be doing” Bennett said.
“It was close in qualifying, and with that extra lap that we didn’t get because of the red flag, there was definitely a chance of being inside the top-five.”
Despite breaking back into the top-10, Bennett reckons even stronger results were possible.
“We got those positions early on in race one, but frustratingly I had to go to the outside on the restart, and that put me out of position where we lost two places. Otherwise we would have been in the top five for sure.
“The rest of the weekend was all about trying to make up ground with our second quali lap being affected by traffic. I managed to avoid all the trouble around us and got into the top1-0, but then it becomes tough to pass, even with the extra pace we had.
“I’m looking forward to Zandvoort, as it’s a lovely track and a new challenge for a lot of us.”