Mills closes in on GB4 title at Brands Hatch with 10th win

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Tom Mills moved to within touching distance of the GB4 title with his second lights-to-flag victory of the weekend at Brands Hatch.

The KMR Sport driver finished 1.2 seconds clear of closest championship rival Cooper Webster to notch up his 10th win of the campaign, breaking Nikolas Taylor’s record from 2022.

He extended his lead to 115 points over Webster, and could wrap up the title with a round to spare in this afternoon’s reversed-grid contest.

Mills again made good use of pole position at the start to gain a clear lead by Paddock Hill Bend, while fellow front-row starter Liam McNeilly resisted a challenge from Webster to maintain second.

McNeilly’s Fox Motorsport team-mate Sid Smith made a great launch from ninth to move into sixth on the outside of Paddock Hill, and snatched fifth later in the lap with a move around the outside of Colin Queen at Hawthorn bend.

Kai Daryanani ended up in the gravel at Surtees after contact with Aditya Kulkarni, resulting in the safety car boards being shown before the end of lap one.

Mills slowed the field down approaching Sheene Curve, with Smith caught out, locking up and narrowly avoiding rear-ending Webster.

Racing resumed on lap five, with Smith having to defend from Queen at Paddock Hill. Mills locked up on the next lap at Druids, but maintained his lead over McNeilly, who was coming under increasing pressure from Webster.

Second place soon changed hands, with Webster getting a good run out of Surtees before sweeping around the outside of McNeilly at Hawthorn.

Webster then set the fastest lap to close the deficit to Mills from 1.1s to 0.8s. But he wasn’t able to make further inroads, with Mills edging clear once more in the remaining laps, and McNeilly finishing 0.3s behind Webster at the chequered flag.

Velocity Racing Development’s Zack Ping ran fourth throughout, with Smith coming home fifth. Queen slipped from sixth to ninth in the closing stages and had a further scare after dipping two wheels on the grass at Sheene Curve.

Seb Murray finished 11th despite a 10s penalty for being out of position at the start.

Race result (11 laps)