British F4 returnee James Higgins reflects on lessons learned in 2023, his maiden single-seater win at Brands Hatch, and his approach in preparing for what is shaping up to be a close title battle with Hitech driver and friend Deagen Fairclough.

By Gavin Guthrie

Heading into the season with just two rounds of single-seater experience under his belt, James Higgins approached 2023 with the aim of getting comfortable in F4 machinery and building up confidence – and with it, pace – throughout the year.

Making the switch from the Ginetta Junior sports car series would be a big ask, especially with the young British driver having spent most of 2022 not competing in any championship. But with two wins and a further four podiums to his name by the end of the 2023 season, Higgins demonstrated an ability to adapt and perform at a high level.

“Overall, I believe it was a positive year. Although we won a couple of races, there was still a lot to learn and it was hyper-competitive throughout,” he told Feeder Series. “Initially at the start of the year, we didn’t really have any major expectations, but it did turn out better than expected.”

Higgins finished his first full British F4 season sixth in the standings with 217 points. His biggest haul came in the second round on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, where he scored a win, a podium, two poles and 47 points.

“Brands was a proper turning point for us. We just did the right set up work, put it on pole – which was not a shock, I knew I could do it – but … it was a bit unexpected for the weekend,” Higgins explained.

“We were struggling on the Friday for a little bit of pace. But I think that’s when, as a team, our expectations changed; we believed a little bit more after that, and although we were already pushing, we gave it everything from there on.

“I think the Saturday was really good, obviously finished P3, but a bit disappointing starting from pole. And then we went into the Sunday [with] no real expectations. What will happen will happen – had a good reverse grid race, got back into the swing of things.

“Then obviously race three, lights-to-flag win. That was the highlight of my career so far. …

“Up to that point, nothing had really gone all my way. It hadn’t all quite come together, but at that point, everything worked and it all just seemed to fall into place. That was definitely a special day. It was just great to reward everyone that had helped me for their hard work, especially Mum and Dad.”

Ups and downs of 2023

Despite the fairy-tale weekend at Brands Hatch, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Fortec Motorsport driver, as was most evident in rounds three and four at Snetterton and Thruxton respectively.

Two difficult qualifying sessions left him with a lot of work to be done during the races. The voiding of race one at Snetterton, mistakes in the races the next day and incidents in the second and third races at Thruxton meant Higgins walked away from the six races with a mere three points added to his tally.

“There were a couple of low points, but I think that’s all part of the learning curve. On reflection I wouldn’t change anything. I learned a lot from experiencing things not always going my way. We showed glimpses of good pace and what we could achieve.”

New team, new goal

Coming into 2024, Higgins has made the swap from Fortec to Rodin Motorsport, last year’s teams’ championship winners. Considering Higgins had set his sights on the drivers’ title, heading to the team that helped Louis Sharp to the title last year was, to him at least, ‘the clear choice’.

“We had been with Fortec for a lengthy period, and it had felt like home. At first it was a little strange to change teams, but Rodin have been so professional and have worked hard to help me to integrate with the team. It feels like the right choice. Everyone gets along and the team really works.”

Discussing his key focuses for development over the winter, Higgins told Feeder Series, “I think the mental preparation has definitely changed a lot this year. That was sort of the main thing last year. When I was in the right frame of mind, it really worked. But when I wasn’t, it didn’t.

“We have done a lot more preparation with the team this time round, concentrating on everything that held me back last year, like for example starts. Covering all aspects from the get-go is what Louis was really good at last year. He was the whole package and didn’t really let anything get away. He was always chipping away at it, and the wins came – and with it, so did the championship.”

Takeaways from testing

Throughout pre-season testing, Higgins was consistently in the top five in combined results, putting in solid lap times as he settled into his new team. However, it was Fairclough in the silver-and-red Hitech GP car who locked out the number one spot session after session, though Higgins finally pipped him to the top spot on the first day of testing at Brands Hatch earlier today.

Despite this seemingly indomitable display in testing from the Hitech driver, Higgins said he believed the margins between the two would be much narrower across the season.

“We thought at the start of the year it could be a fight between me and him, but you never know. Testing is not always the best representation of everyone’s true pace.

“The championship is going to be super competitive. There are lots of second-year drivers, including my teammates, and plenty of really quick rookies,” Higgins said. “As long as we’re putting our best foot forward and doing the best job within the team, that’s all you can really ask.

“Come round one, everyone will be on a sort of equal playing field and we’ll really see where we are. Deagen has been fast and he’s a really nice guy and I get along with him really well, so it’ll be a good battle.

“We know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe I could do the job and win the championship. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves at this point and it should fall into place.”

Header photo credit: ThruTheLens Media