18th March 2019
F4 British Championship newcomer aiming to emulate consistent approach of past Champions in his debut campaign.
Ginetta Junior graduate hails the positive influence of his father, ex-BTCC racer Nick Foster, in his mental preparation and coaching.
Testing times on Media Day too close to call, with competition for race victories in abundance when the season gets underway at Brands Hatch on 6th-7th Louis Foster believes a consistent approach will pay dividends as he gears up for his debut campaign in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost.
Foster, who makes the step into Britain’s FIA-sanctioned Formula 4 series off the back of a stellar Ginetta Junior campaign that yielded nine race victories and a further ten podium finishes en route to the Vice-Champion honours, will join reigning Champions Double R Racing.
The Woking-based squad enjoyed a breakthrough title success in 2018 with Kiern Jewiss, something Foster is aiming to replicate by emulating Jewiss’ consistent approach during his rookie campaign in the Ford EcoBoost-powered category.
“I think keeping in the points and being in that bracket; you don’t have to win every time,” explained Foster.
“If you look at the past Champions – Kiern didn’t win the most races but he was constantly there and didn’t drop the points, so if we just keep on chipping away at that, hopefully we can end up with a good result.”
He also hailed the importance of his father – former British GT and BTCC racer Nick Foster – in helping with his mental preparation and driver coaching.
“I think definitely last year in Ginetta Juniors, when it was a car, he was very helpful. Obviously, I had driver coaches as well, but now it’s more mentally that he helps out, because that’s what he does for WSR and BMW in the BTCC.
“I think he’s very good at helping me stay strong mentally and make sure I’m not putting too much pressure on myself, trying to overachieve or anything like that.”
Foster put in a solid performance at the series’ recent Media Day, ending the day seventh in the combined classification and just three tenths behind experienced contenders Josh Skelton and Foster’s new team-mate Sebastian Alvarez.
With a positive winter testing programme behind him now too, Foster feels even more at home after switching to single-seaters, with confidence high heading into the season opener.
“I’d done a bit of testing but not loads, I haven’t been out in the car every day. I’ve probably been testing for about a month now; I went out a few times at the end of last year just to get a feel for what I was going to do. I feel pretty confident in the car now.”
Once again in 2019, the F4 British Championship holds a unique position as the sole single-seater support category on the UK’s premier motorsport package, the British Touring Car Championship.
With capacity crowds exceeding 30,000 spectators at most events, plus live, free-to-air television coverage on ITV4, it has been labelled ‘the biggest stage in Britain’ in recent times, offering the next generation of motorsport stars a cost-effective, race-proven and reliable platform on which to begin their careers.
The schedule is comprised of ten events at nine of the UK’s most challenging and highest-profile venues, with Foster giving a special mention to Brands Hatch GP and Oulton Park as his standout events of the season.
“I love the Brands Hatch GP circuit, that’s a really good track. Oulton Park is also great in single-seaters. The rest are all pretty similar, although obviously really good tracks, but those two are the ones that stand out for me.”
The new season starts on the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch over the weekend of 6th-7th April.