ARDEN DOMINATE, YORK TAKES FIRST WIN ON KNOCKHILL SUNDAY
TRS Arden celebrate a job well done after they secured a podium lockout in Knockhill's 3rd race – Photo: Jakob Ebrey
Round 20
Oliver York took his maiden win in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost at Knockhill in Round 20 of the season and brought home Fortec Motorsports’ first win of the campaign. Carlin’s Logan Sargeant chased down York in second, while Hampus Ericsson provided fans with a thrilling display of defensive driving to hold on to the final podium place and claim another Ford F4 Challenge Cup victory for Fortec Motorsports.
Starting alongside poleman Ericsson, Andy Priaulx Sports Management star York wasted no time in finding a way past his team-mate. Despite make an excellent getaway, Ericsson was immediately under pressure after turn one. York didn’t need any invitation when the first overtaking opportunity presented itself, scything up the inside of Ericsson to take the lead.
It immediately put Ericsson into the clutches of Sargeant and as the two jostled for second, York set about trying to break away from the field.
Sargeant eventually made a move stick on lap nine after a Safety Car period and despite the American recording the fastest lap on the final tour of the 1.27-mile Fife track, York had enough in hand to masterfully take the first single-seater win of his career.
“It’s a big relief to get this first win,” said race winner York. “It’s been a long season and we’ve finally done it. I’ve worked so hard to achieve this.”
“My game plan was to get past Hampus early on and that’s exactly what I did. I saw Hampus get a bad run out of the chicane and I knew that was my chance to strike.
“From then on I tried to pull away. Hampus is good at defending so that helped me create a gap.
“It’s fantastic for the team that Hampus got third and really pleasing to see that today we had the speed to win because yesterday that didn’t quite look to be the case.
“The team have done a great job. The car has improved all weekend and we’ve really honed the setup.“
Round 21
TRS Arden wrapped up the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost weekend at Knockhill in style with an emphatic 1-2-3 finish. Oscar Piastri took his fifth win of the campaign from Alex Quinn and Ayrton Simmons.
Piastri, Quinn and Simmons were untouchable out front trading fastest lap times for the duration. Their respective quickest laps of the race covered by a mere 0.022s.
It was a dominant display from the TRS Arden trio who controlled proceedings from the outset, with Piastri and Quinn getting away brilliantly off the line and Simmons jumping Jamie Caroline to move immediately into third.
From then on the only threat was from Carlin’s Logan Sargeant who Simmons kept at bay, acting as rear gunner for Piastri and Quinn ahead, particularly after a Safety Car period six laps into the race.
“I hope to keep having this winning feeling,” said a beaming Piastri. “I got a good start but Alex’s was a bit better. After that I think I had just a little bit more pace than the rest of the field.
“I saw that Jamie was in fifth and that took the pressure off a little, but also motivated me to score as many points as I could to take as much out of his lead in the standings as possible.
“It’s great to get a 1-2-3 for the team. Ayrton was fastest in testing on Wednesday, Alex was fastest on Friday in free practice and then I put it on pole on Saturday. It’s amazing really and fantastic to deliver a result like this. To get a 1-2-3 and put it all together when it really matters is something very special.”
“It’s awesome to be a part of this historic result,” added Quinn. “Oscar and I both got good starts and tried to break away.
“The tyres weren’t completely in at the beginning because we ran new ones, not scrubbed, which made it a little bit challenging. Nevertheless, the three of us managed to get away out front.
“I’ve got to say a massive thanks to Total Rail Solutions and Arden because they have been able to provide us as drivers with this incredible opportunity to succeed.
“I felt like I was a little bit quicker and closing slightly on Oscar before the Safety Car, but I’m happy with second and the points, especially on a weekend that probably wasn’t my best. It’s nice to end it on a high.”
“To get a 1-2-3 finish in British F4 is such a hard thing to achieve,” explained Simmons. “It doesn’t happen very often because the series is so competitive.
“We all had the exact same pace. Arden do an amazing job to bring in the right drivers who will click as a team and perform individually as well.
“I kept my head down in the race after jumping past Jamie at the start. I tried to catch and pass Alex, but it was really tricky to follow him through the high speed corners, plus I had to manage my race carefully because Sargeant was behind me.”
Alex Battipaglia (Source: British F4)