THRILLING THRUXTON UP NEXT FOR BRITISH F4

British F4 begins life under its new title at the high-speed Hampshire circuit – Photo: Jakob Ebrey

With four different winners in the opening six races, the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford season has got away to an ultra-competitive start full of excitement.

The action rolls onto Thruxton this weekend with Carlin’s Max Fewtrell riding high following a brace of podiums and maiden victory at Donington Park which saw him wrestle top spot in the standings away from team-mate and double race winner Petru Florescu. The Romanian sits equal on points with another driver who also has two wins to his name this year – JHR Developments’ Sennan Fielding.

Fortec Motorsports’ Alex Quinn scored a historic first win in the series for both himself and the Racing Steps Foundation several weeks ago and will be looking to strike again. Fellow Rookie class drivers, the unrelated Jack and Ross Martin ended Quinn’s domination of the top step of the Rookie podium with wins at Donington and intend to follow-up. Meanwhile, Nicolai Kjaergaard is sure to be a player yet again.

A new protagonist arrives in the form of TRS Arden’s Ayrton Simmons who turned 15 in the run up to this weekend and in doing so becomes eligible to compete. Like Carrie Schreiner who returns to the British F4 fold this weekend, Simmons impressed in testing and both will be keen to open their points scoring accounts along with Frank Bird.

Watch out for Jamun Racing’s pairing of Harry Hayek and Jamie Caroline who have already provided plenty of entertainment this season; the latter climbing nine places in one lap in the wet at Donington in Senna-esque fashion.

Double R Racing’s Zane Goddard wants to bounce back following three non-points scores, whilst Aussie compatriot Luis Leeds aims to break his victory duck after four straight second place finishes. Carlin’s James Pull is another contender for wins this season having already taken three podiums.

Devlin DeFrancesco, Rafael Martins and Billy Monger all shone in testing at the Hampshire circuit last month and will hope to carry this form into the weekend, with Jack Butel and Patrik Matthiesen looking to build on their first point scores of the year.

British F4’s high speed thriller at Thruxton kicks off with qualifying on Saturday morning and round seven of the championship in the afternoon. Two further 20-minute Ford EcoBoost-powered races follow on Sunday, with both scheduled for transmission during the ever-popular live BTCC show on ITV4.

Alex Battipaglia