Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Deagen Fairclough took another British Formula 4 double pole position in qualifying for the penultimate round at Silverstone.
Fairclough, who came into the weekend with a championship lead of 138 points, jumped to the top of the order late in the session and ended qualifying with a time of 54.598 seconds. He also set the top second-fastest time to secure his sixth double pole in nine rounds.
With up to 10 bonus points on offer for positions gained in the reversed-grid second race of each weekend, Fairclough will need to wait until race one to have an opportunity to wrap up the title.
Times were very close throughout the session. By the chequered flag, the top 10 were covered by just 0.201s. The largest gap was at the top of the order, where Fairclough managed to go 0.129s quicker than James Higgins in second.
Fairclough’s nearest championship rival Alex Ninovic topped the order early on. Reza Seewooruthun, Higgins, Jack Sherwood and Leo Robinson all took turns at the top of the order, before Fairclough jumped to the top of the times in the final stage of the session.
Ninovic improved on his final lap to go third quickest, ahead of Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Martin Molnar and Zack Scoular, who also improved on his final lap.
Gustav Jonsson, returning to British F4 for the first time this season, placed eighth overall, just behind Jack Sherwood and ahead of Matius Ryba, who has made only two other appearances this season. After a strong start, Robinson finished 10th.
Qualifying round-up
Race 3 grid
1 Deagen Fairclough Hitech GP 54.598s
2 James Higgins Rodin Motorsport +0.129s
3 Alex Ninovic Rodin Motorsport +0.140s
4 Rowan Campbell-Pilling Argenti Motorsport +0.143s
5 Martin Molnar Virtuosi +0.155s
6 Zack Scoular Xcel Motorsport +0.165s
7 Jack Sherwood Rodin Motorsport +0.174s
8 Gustav Jonsson Chris Dittmann Racing +0.176s
9 Matus Ryba Argenti +0.194s
10 Leo Robinson JHR Developments +0.201s
Race 1 grid
1 Fairclough 54.641s
2 Higgins +0.097s
3 Sherwood +0.126s
4 Ninovic +0.133s
5 Scoular +0.139s
6 Robinson +0.187s
7 Campbell-Pilling +0.191s
8 Jonsson +0.201s
9 Ryba +0.226s
10 Molnar +0.244s