Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Elite Motorsport’s Ary Bansal closed in on the GB4 title by winning the penultimate race at the Donington Park finale.
Bansal inherited the championship lead before the race even started. That was because Hillspeed’s Daniel Guinchard was handed a 30s track limits penalty in race two, in lieu of drive-through, demoting him to 19th.
It also dropped Guinchard to third in the standings behind Bansal and Phelps heading into race three, with six points separating the trio.
ADM’s Jason Pribyl converted his reversed-grid pole into the lead at the start, while KMR Sport’s inexperienced Lewis Wherrell was slow away from the outside of the front row and lost several places.
Fortec Motorsports’ Thomas Ingram Hill held off Bansal for second into Redgate, but made slight contact with Pribyl at Macleans while attempting to grab the lead.
That dropped him to third behind Bansal, who then challenged Pribyl through the final three corners, forcing his rival into a mistake and grabbing the lead before lap one was completed.
Ingram Hill soon dispatched Pribyl for second, but he had no answer to Bansal who held a two-second lead when the safety was deployed late on due to Pace Performance’s John O’Donnell retiring in a collision at the hairpin with Flame Arikkala. Officials then ended the contest early by bringing out red flags.
Bansal took his fourth win of the season to extend his championship lead to eight points over Phelps, who gained eight places to fourth, with Guinchard finishing one place behind him.
KMR Sport’s Alex O’Grady finished third despite a three-car clash at Goddards which sent Pribyl and Fortec’s Jack Taylor tumbling down the order.
Hillspeed’s Leandro Juncos was sixth ahead of Leon Wilson, and Alex Kattoulas produced a double overtake on Douglas duo Lucas Blakeley and Dayton Coulthard to finish eighth.
The title will be decided later on Sunday in a rescheduled contest from the previous round at Brands Hatch.
Race results (11 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ary Bansal | Elite Motorsport | 12m05.798s |
| 2 | Thomas Ingram Hill | Fortec Motorsports | +2.482s |
| 3 | Alex O’Grady | KMR Sport | +4.351s |
| 4 | Isaac Phelps | Elite Motorsport | +4.762s |
| 5 | Daniel Guinchard | Hillspeed | +6.878s |
| 6 | Leandro Juncos | Hillspeed | +8.382s |
| 7 | Leon Wilson | Arden | +8.938s |
| 8 | Alex Kattoulas | Elite Motorsport | +9.778s |
| 9 | Lucas Blakeley | Douglas Motorsport | +10.618s |
| 10 | Dayton Coulthard | Douglas Motorsport | +11.023s |
| 11 | Lewis Wherrell | KMR Sport | +12.707s |
| 12 | Stefan Bostandjiev | Pace Performance | +15.205s |
| 13 | Luca Magnussen | Fortec Motorsports | +15.488s |
| 14 | Jason Pribyl | ADM | +15.802s |
| 15 | Dudley Ruddock | Arden | +21.194s |
| 16 | Jack Taylor | Fortec Motorsports | +22.061s |
| 17 | Holly Miall | Fox Motorsport | +22.678s |
| 18 | Caitlyn McDaniel | Fox Motorsport | +29.040s |
| 19 | Flame Airikkala | Hillspeed | +31.195s |
| 20 | Lily-May Watkins | KMR Sport | +34.916s |
| 21 | Josh McLean | Pace Performance | +43.516s |
| 22 | Ava Dobson | Arden | +1m24.905s |
| 23 | Enzo Hallmann | Douglas Motorsport | +1 lap |
| Ret | John O’Donnell | Pace Performance | |
| Fastest lap: O’Grady, 1m28.979s
Championship standings |
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