Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Fortec Motorsports’ Ary Bansal won British Formula 4’s reversed-grid race at Zandvoort, which began with a dramatic crash.
The race was red flagged after a multi-car incident that caused Hitech GP’s Xavier Avramides to flip in the air before landing upside down. He was able to get out of his car and was taken to the medical centre. Rodin Motorsport’s Chloe Chang, JHR Developments’ Esmee Kosterman and Xcel Motorsport’s Yuhao Fu also retired in the incident.
Bansal had started from pole and lost first place to Hitech’s Thomas Bearman before the red flags, but was put back onto pole position for the restart. At the second attempt he managed to hold onto the lead, and was able to actually break away up front as Rodin’s Adam Al Azhari put pressure on Bearman.
Al Azhari eventually found a way past Bearman, who damaged his front wing and would later be forced to pit for repairs. Before he could then chase down Bansal, he had team-mate Ella Lloyd in his mirrors and the two ran nose to tail for several laps before a wide moment from Al Azhari allowed Lloyd to get through into second.
She could not close the gap to Bansal either, finishing 3.285 seconds behind the first-time winner.
Rodin’s James Piszcyk led a close four-car battle for fourth for much of the race. Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin, Fortec’s Henry Joslyn and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield kept Piszcyk under pressure while also battling for position themselves.
McLaughlin and Joslyn made slight contact late in the race, leaving Joslyn stranded between turns two and three. Harfield came through to take fifth, finishing just 0.126s behind Piszcyk and slightly ahead of Argenti Motorsport’s Ethan Jeff-Hall.
The fight for seventh at the end ended up being for the championship lead, as McLaughlin came home just ahead of Virtuosi Racing’s Martin Molnar and therefore took top spot in the standings from him by half a point.
Bearman, running at the back of the field after a change of nose, set the fastest lap.
Race results (11 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ary Bansal | Fortec Motorsports | 18m15.712s |
| 2 | Ella Lloyd | Rodin Motorsport | +3.285s |
| 3 | Adam Al Azhari | Rodin Motorsport | +7.400s |
| 4 | James Piszcyk | Rodin Motorsport | +9.069s |
| 5 | Tommy Harfield | Chris Dittmann Racing | +9.195s |
| 6 | Ethan Jeff-Hall | Argenti Motorsport | +9.675s |
| 7 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | +10.526s |
| 8 | Martin Molnar | Virtuosi Racing | +10.773s |
| 9 | Theo Palmer | Xcel Motorsport | +11.509s |
| 10 | August Raber | Argenti Motorsport | +11.845s |
| 11 | Thomas Ingram Hill | Fortec Motorsports | +15.046s |
| 12 | Rowan Campbell-Pilling | JHR Developments | +15.965s |
| 13 | Arjen Kraling | Argenti Motorsport | +15.976s |
| 14 | Nina Gademan | Hitech GP | +16.569s |
| 15 | Emma Felbermayr | Virtuosi Racing | +17.665s |
| 16 | Henry Mercier | Argenti Motorsport | +18.035s |
| 17 | Charlie Edge | Chris Dittmann Racing | +18.204s |
| 18 | Alba Hurup Larsen | Chris Dittmann Racing | +19.399s |
| 19 | Cole Hewetson | Xcel Motorsport | +57.315s |
| 20 | Alexander Savinkov | Virtuosi Racing | +1m15.557s |
| 21 | Chase Fernandez | Xcel Motorsport | +1m20.010s |
| 22 | Thomas Bearman | Hitech GP | +1m24.894s |
| Ret | Henry Joslyn | Fortec Motorsports | |
| Ret | Xavier Avramides | Hitech GP | |
| Ret | Chloe Chong | Rodin Motorsport | |
| Ret | Esmee Kosterman | JHR Developments | |
| Ret | Yuhao Fu | Xcel Motorsport | |
| Fastest lap: Bearman, 1m38.187s
Championship standings |
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