JEWIS DOUBLES UP IN THRUXTON RACE TWO

Kiern Jewiss led home a one-two finish for Double R Racing ahead of Paavo Tonteri in round eight of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost.

Jewiss was in the right place at the right time following last lap heartbreak for long-time leader Jack Doohan. The Arden racer suffering a technical gremlin which saw him plummet down the order to ninth.

Having taken the lead on lap four with a perfectly judged move to get by team-mate Patrik Pasma on the inside at Church, Doohan was faultless out front. The Red Bull Junior Team driver recording fastest lap of the race just as he had done in the first race of the weekend.

Such was the Aussie’s pace that he was able to break the tow from Jewiss who had expertly stayed out of trouble to make his way up to second place ahead of Paavo Tonteri and Ayrton Simmons.

The latter having an eventful race involving contact with poleman Patrik Pasma at Club which saw the Finn go out of the race. Simmons did well to continue, but Tonteri needed no invitation to take advantage.

In something of a landmark race for Double R Racing, Jewiss’ win and Tonteri’s second place secured the team the first one-two finish of the season and saw Jewiss propelled into the championship lead.

Jewiss’ second win of the weekend meant he had the Ford Triple Crown Award firmly in his sights. If the MB Partners backed rising star were to win the final race of the weekend he would bag a lucrative £10,000 prize for becoming the first driver to win all three races in one meeting this season, emulating 2017 FIA British Formula 4 Champion Jamie Caroline, who also achieved the feat at Thruxton.

“To get this win is something of a bonus for us,” said Jewiss. “If we can get three wins then we win the Ford Triple Crown so we’ll be pushing incredibly hard in the final race.

“This was a a brilliant race. I stayed calm and collected throughout. There was a bit of contact between Simmons and Pasma, but I just managed to get away unscathed.”

Added team-mate Tonteri: “This is another good result which I’m really happy with and I’m pleased about scoring so many points.

“Despite the end result, the race wasn’t actually that good for me because I had a bad start and I gained positions through other people crashing. I didn’t quite have the pace of Kiern, but I’ll work hard to turn things around.

“It’s a big thing for everyone at Double R Racing to be the first team to get a one-two finish this season so I’m really pleased for them.”

Commented Simmons: “I got up to second on lap one, but Doohan got past so I had to settle for third.

“It was unfortunate the contact with Pasma and there was nothing else I could have done. It left me with damaged steering so to come home with P3 and a good points haul is great.

“JHR Developments have been doing an amazing job this season and I’m confident that we can achieve many more great results in 2018.”

Manuel Sulaiman did brilliantly to pick his way up the order from last on the grid to finish fourth – his best result of the season – and just reward following the pace he showed in Friday free practice.

His JHR Developments team-mate Josh Skelton wasn’t far behind in fifth, the pair separated by only 0.609s when they crossed the finish line. Skelton equalling his best finish of the year to cap a strong performance from the JHR Developments squad.

Hauger made swift progress from 12th on the grid, climbing three places on the opening lap and by the end of lap nine was running in fourth. However, he came off worse in a skirmish with Ericsson which relegated him several places to eighth, that would become seventh as Ericsson lost places following his dice with Skelton.

Sebastian Priaulx’s luckless weekend continued. Contact with Sebastian Alvarez scuppered his chances of a strong result. The Arden racer did well fight on and stay in contention, picking up a handful of points in sixth.

Fortec Motorsports’ Hampus Ericsson was in the thick of the action climbing from 11th to fifth, but an off track excursion as a result of battling with Skelton meant a point was his only reward in 10th. The Swede finished ahead of Lucca Allen who refused to throw in the towel after contact at Club left his race in tatters.

Jamie Sharp and Johnathan Hoggard were opening lap casualties. Sharp collecting Hoggard and forcing both to retire from the race.