Written by Juan Arroyo, Edited by Sean McKean
Noah Lisle has had a strong start to the year with Rodin Carlin in both the British and Spanish F4 championships.
So far, Lisle has achieved three podium finishes, including a win, in the British championship, and he currently holds fifth place in the standings despite missing a round. In the Spanish F4 championship, the 16-year-old secured solid points in the opening round at Spa.
As Rodin Carlin enters their inaugural year in Spanish F4, Lisle shared the team's expectations for their debut with Divebomb.
“I was just aiming to do the best job I could. It's the team's first ever race in the championship, so you can't go in with a whole heap of expectation on the team and my first time racing at that track.
"I just went in with an open mind, trying to get the best out of what we had available on the day, and I think we did a pretty good job of that. It was a pretty strong first effort.”
In mixed conditions, Lisle qualified eighth and 25th before achieving sixth and fifth-place finishes in Races 1 and 2. However, he didn't score any points in the third race due to a crash at Les Combes. MP Motorsport and Campos Racing dominated the weekend, with Pedro Clerot securing two wins and Matteo de Palo narrowly clinching the final top spot after a final-lap battle with Valerio Rinicella. Lisle commented on his performance.
“I think I raced really well, because I don't think we have the one-lap speed of the Campos or MP cars. But, certainly, I raced quite smart in races one and two. So, if I can race like that, I think we can certainly take advantage of that and get some better results.”
The racing — plagued by safety cars — was somewhat stagnant throughout the weekend Despite the challenging conditions in Spa, which contributed to several incidents, Lisle expects a similar scenario in Aragón.
“I don't think it's necessarily to do with the standard of rating, but, like, you've got a lot of new hungry drivers, and a lot of them. So at times, it can end up quite hectic. So, yeah, I'd expect the same, if not more.”
The 16-year-old driver’s results are an upward trend from last year, where he finished 13th in British F4 and 23rd in Spanish F4, albeit driving for different teams at the time. Lisle, who mentioned qualifying as a deficiency of his in January, has secured two pole positions so far in British F4. Lisle doesn’t attribute this improvement to anything specific, but rather his efforts over time.
“There has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes, including my physical training, race preparation, and spending time on SIM testing programs. All of these efforts have led to the point where we are now challenging for wins in the British championship and giving it our best in the Spanish championship as well.
“It's really cool to see some improvement. The process has remained consistent since I came here, just by staying dedicated to it. It's nice to see the fruits of my labour and everyone around me.”
Just as with other drivers, Lisle expects Campos to be quicker than MP Motorsport in Aragón should there be dry conditions.
“I'm not sure where we'll be. We're just kind of moving forward and progressing. So we seem quite okay in all conditions, maybe better in the wet than we were in the dry.
“But, even in racing, we're able to kind of hold on to where we're qualified. So it'll be interesting to see where we end up, but I probably expect Campos to be more competitive compared to MP.”
Comments