Burgoyne keeps title race alive with second straight GB4 win

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Harry Burgyone Jr led home Lucas Blakeley in a KMR Sport one-two in the opening GB4 race of the Brands Hatch finale.

Fortec Motorsports’ championship leader Linus Granfors led away from pole at the start, while Burgoyne moved up the inside of team-mate Blakeley for second.

Blakeley fought back on the outside of Druids before conceding, and the pair’s squabble allowed Elite duo Alisha Palmowski and Finn Harrison – who had moved ahead of the slow-starting Leon Wilson off the line – to close up behind.

Burgoyne almost made contact with Granfors into Graham Hill Bend, resulting in further bunching up behind him. Palmowski had a look up the inside of Blakeley into the next corner before backing out, and she then resisted a challenge from team-mate Harrison on the run to Hawthorn bend to maintain fourth.

The lead changed hands before the first lap was completed, with Burgoyne making the better exit from Stirling’s to draw alongside Granfors, who then went deep at the next corner and lost out to Burgoyne, Blakeley and Palmowski.

Burgoyne pulled out a one-second lead in the race’s first half before he was reined back in by Blakeley. The gap came down to under 0.4s by the final lap, but Burgyone resisted the pressure to take his second win in a row, and his first in a non-reversed-grid contest.

Palmowski was unable to keep pace with the front two and instead had to focus her attention on Granfors behind. She held off her championship rival for several laps until a sideways moment after running wide onto the grass at Stirling’s allowed Granfors to sweep by.

By remaining in third until the finish, Granfors holds a 26-point lead with two races remaining over Burgoyne, who reclaimed second in the standings from Palmowski.

Fox Motorsport’s Branden Templeton finished fifth after making a lap two overtake on Harrison, who held off WIlson for seventh.

KMR’s Chloe Grant was eighth ahead of Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter and Fortec duo Jack Taylor and Dan Hickey, while Fox’s Megan Bruce was another to go off the road at Stirling’s and finished 12th.

Race result (13 laps)