TEEN racer Bart Harrison has been pushed to the limit in 2024, but believes he is better for it.

This time last year, the 17-year-old made the step up from a successful karting career into single-seater racing with Chris Dittmann Racing.

He roared onto the podium in the opening round of the British F4 championships at Donington Park in April, including a Rookie Cup win, and added more silverware as the season progressed.

The Nunnington talent finished the year as the competition’s fourth-placed rookie and 20th overall, and has aspirations to finish even higher in 2025.

Reflecting on his debut season, he told The Press: “I think it went well.

“We had a long time trying to adjust to the F4 car straight out of karts, which took longer than we had expected.

“But we got on it through the winter, we did a lot of testing through November and December and then when we came back in February and March we made a lot of progress.

“There’s been a couple of qualifying sessions where we’ve put everything together and shown our potential, which has been nice.

“We haven’t been able to do it every weekend, but on a couple of weekends where we have, I think it’s been good for my confidence and for people to see what I can do.

“I’m happy with that and I think we can take that into next year and have a proper solid year where we put something together.”

As for what has been the biggest change between karting and single-seater racing, he explained: “The mindset and also the brakes. They’re just so different.

“In a go-kart, it’s all coming from the rear of the car, and in F4 it’s on the front and the rear, so that’s a massive difference.

“But also the mindset of everyone is just a lot more professional, and you feel a lot more like a racing driver when you go to weekends in F4. It’s got a lot more professional feel about it.”

2024 though hasn’t been without its trials and tribulations for Bart.

With a contract falling through at the last minute, he raced almost the entire season without a teammate, and a change in tyre manufacturer also didn’t help his adjustment to his new car.

It’s been perhaps the teenager’s toughest year to date, but showing true Yorkshire grit, he has battled through the adversity and believes it will only make him stronger going forward.

“I think this year has taken a lot of mental strength,” he admitted.

“It’s probably strengthened me mentally because in my karting career, most recently, I’d never really been struggling. We’d always been at the front.

“But this year has provided more of a challenge, and we haven’t always been up there, so I’ve had to learn to deal with that and just get on with it.

“I think that’s a good asset to take forward when I’m struggling at times in the future, which is inevitable.

“[Being without a teammate] was unexpected too, but it’s something I had to deal with.”

Whilst Bart’s lack of a teammate has undoubtedly proved a challenge, he finished the season strongly, and sees no reason why he cannot continue that form into 2025.

“I think being able to watch someone’s video day-to-day that’s in the same car as you is good,” the racer continued.

“They changed the manufacturer of the tyres earlier this year, so the feeling of the tyres completely changed and that meant we had to change the set-up.

“But because I was a rookie driver, that was pretty hard for me because I didn’t really know set-up changes at that point, I didn’t know what good felt like.

“It also made past data from other drivers pretty incomparable because they were basically in a different car.

“We had a lot of factors stacked against us, but I think I’ve gained a lot of experience, and by the end of the year we were fighting with the best.

“There’s no reason why we can’t do that next year from the beginning.”

As for what is next for Bart, who stands well over six feet, he’s been told by his trainer to lay off his beloved Yorkshire puddings this Christmas in a strict diet to reduce the weight of his car for 2025.

He finished the year with testing and a round of the Italian F4 Championships with Swiss team Jenzer Motorsport, and will restart with the F4 winter series over the coming months.