Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Championship leader Ayrton Simmons topped the mid-season Croft British Formula 4 test by 0.006 seconds from Jack Doohan.
Both drivers set their fastest times on the first day of the two-day test, with JHR Developments driver Simmons putting in a 1m20.727s in the PM session.
Doohan topped the AM session on both days, while his Arden team-mate Dennis Hauger was the fastest man in the final session of the test and third overall, a scant 0.077s behind.
The top 12 drivers were all within seven tenths of Simmons’ best lap, a remarkably close spread around the Yorkshire track.
Jonathan Hoggard was fourth fastest for Fortec Motorsports, ahead of Double R Racing duo Paavo Tonteri and Kiern Jewiss, Arden’s Seb Priaulx and Patrik Pasma, 2017 Challenge Cup champion and Fortec driver Hampus Ericsson, and Simmons’ team-mates Manuel Sulaiman and Josh Skelton.
The test marked the debut of the Rosso Verde Racing team, best known for its success with the late Allan Simonsen in GTs.
The Northern Irish team is considering entering British F4 in the future and ran Christian Lester on the first day, running almost six seconds off the pace in what was an acclimatisation day.
Combined times
| Pos | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Simmons | JHR Developments | 1m20.727s |
| 2 | Jack Doohan | Arden | +0.006s |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | Arden | +0.077s |
| 4 | Johnathan Hoggard | Fortec Motorsports | +0.104s |
| 5 | Paavo Tonteri | Double R Racing | +0.141s |
| 6 | Kiern Jewiss | Double R Racing | +0.220s |
| 7 | Seb Priaulx | Arden | +0.287s |
| 8 | Patrik Pasma | Arden | +0.342s |
| 9 | Hampus Ericsson | Fortec Motorsports | +0.387s |
| 10 | Manuel Sulaiman | JHR Developments | +0.553s |
| 11 | Josh Skelton | JHR Developments | +0.645s |
| 12 | Sebastian Alvarez | Double R Racing | +0.648s |
| 13 | Lucca Allen | Fortec Motorsports | +1.033s |
| 14 | Jamie Sharp | Sharp Motorsport | +1.941s |
| 15 | Christian Lester | Rosso Verde Racing | +5.917s |