CASPER STEVENSON WINS BRITISH F4 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE

Casper Stevenson has been awarded the inaugural F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost Scholarship prize fund following a dedicated assessment day at Silverston on November 5th.

The 15-year old impressed a judging panel comprised of Motorsport UK’s Cheryl Lynch, FIA Formula 3 racer – and the 2016 champion – Max Fewtrell, ITV Sport’s Richard John Neil and Neil Brown Engineering’s Phil Lane.

Stevenson was judged on his performance at the wet-weather test with Double R Racing, as well as a media assessment and interview with championship officials, and leaves the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ this evening with a £35,000 prize fund towards competing in the series in 2020.

He finished sixth overall in the last season’s highly-competitive Ginetta Junior Championship, claiming seven podiums along the way with Richardson Racing.

“When I was walking up and my name was being called, I thought I was dreaming,” said an elated Stevenson.

“I always think I never really win these things, so to win it, I’m going to go into Christmas very happy and it makes next season all the more easier. I’m over the moon.

“I think I’ll let this sink in for a bit first and then we decide on a team and get a contract all signed up. I’m going to definitely cherish this for a while and then start to get back to the day-to-day business.”

Ford Performance Europe’s Senior Manager, Gerard Quinn, was on hand to offer his congratulations and present Stevenson with his prize.

“I’d like to offer a huge congratulations on behalf of everybody associated with the F4 British Championship to Casper for winning our inaugural scholarship prize, but also to the entire field that turned out at Silverstone to compete.,” commented Quinn.

“Deciding on a winner was no easy feat for our judging panel and we hope to see everybody on the grid in the future.

“The standard of the competition was exceptionally high and it’s been great to see so much positivity surrounding the series at the moment.

“2019 was an excellent year for the championship, and I’ve absolutely no doubt the ‘Class of 2020’ will raise the bar even higher next year.”

Carlin’s Matias Zagazeta has also been awarded the runner-up prize of free registration to the 2020 championship, worth £2,500.

It was JHR Developments-run racer James Hedley that set the overall pace amidst tricky conditions at the 1.6-mile National circuit.

His benchmark – a 1:01.728 set in the afternoon session – was enough to edge out Fortec Motorsport’s Chris Lulham by 0.2 seconds.

Stevenson was third fastest ahead of Zak O’Sullivan (Carlin) and recently-announced 2020 entry Roman Bilinski (Arden).

Theo Edgerton set the sixth quickest time overall but did not participate in the Scholarship, with Christian Mansell (Carlin), Formula Ford Festival winner Johnathan Browne, Horatio Fitz-Simon (both Fortec) and JHR’s Abbi Pulling rounded out the top ten.

Frederick Lubin (Arden) was next ahead of Zagazeta, with Josh Rattican (JHR) and Jack Gordon (Richardson Racing) rounding out the runners.

The grid for 2020 is already starting to take shape; four drivers have committed to Ford’s winning formula for next season recently, including Lubin, Bilinski, Zagazeta and the returning Roberto Faria (Fortec).

They will continue to benefit from the series’ high-profile platform on the BTCC support bill, including capacity crowds and live, free-to-air television coverage on ITV4, as well as an unparalleled platform for driver development – the roll call of alumni speaks for itself.

Beyond that, another 30-race, action-packed season begins at Donington Park, Leicestershire, on 28-29 March, 2020.