Fairclough fastest as GB3 and British F4 test at Silverstone

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

GB3 and British Formula 4 began this week by testing on Silverstone’s Grand Prix layout.

In GB3, Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre started off on top with a 1m53.775s in session one on Monday. He led Argenti with Prema’s Yuanpu Cui by 0.231 seconds and an unnamed driver in JHR Developments’ #10 car.

Deagen Fairclough lowered the pace to 1m52.846s in session two, edging Hitech GP team-mate Keanu Al Azhari by 0.149s and JHR’s #10 driver.

They, and Argenti’s Lucas Fluxa, failed to improve in the afternoon but JHR’s unnamed driver topped session three, posting a 1m52.302s to pip Cui by 0.074s. JHR’s Kai Daryanani was a further 0.1s back.

Fairclough looked to be fastest again in session four, but with his final lap team-mate Nikita Johnson set a 1m53.13s to beat him by 0.085s. Macintyre was third, 0.018s slower than Fairclough.

Hitech led the way on Tuesday morning, its drivers finding their peak pace in session five after the chequered flag. A 1m53.427s earned Fairclough first place by 0.103s over Al Azhari, and Johnson trailed by 0.514s. There were two more cars on track, and Argenti ran Formula Regional Middle East champion Evan Giltaire.

Fairclough was marginally quicker in session six and set his benchmark 1m53.286s early on. He denied JHR’s #10 driver by a slim 0.025s, and there was a gap of 0.135s to Macintyre in third.

The top four were covered by less than 0.05s in session seven, which Daryanani led. He posted a 1m53.571s to beat Cui by 0.015s, Fairclough by 0.024s and Macintyre by 0.047s.

JHR’s Noah Lisle topped the last session with a personal best of 1m53.309s. Fairclough was 0.058s slower and Al Azhari was 0.203s behind in third.

British F4 was preparing for its non-championship races at Silverstone on the British Grand Prix’s support bill, and Argenti Motorsport’s August Raber was quickest in session one thanks to a final-lap improvement to 2m01.801s.

He beat Virtuosi Racing’s Salim Hanna Hernandez by 0.056s, Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin was third and Rodin’s Ella Lloyd was fourth with her fastest lap of testing.

Hanna was second again in session two, 0.155s off Argenti’s Ethan Jeff-Hall who lowered the pace to 2m01.648s. JHR’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling set a 2m01.863s in third, and did not improve thereon.

In the afternoon, Hanna moved to the top. His 2m01.369s benchmark in session three put him 0.332s clear of McLaughlin and 0.393s up on Jeff-Hall, but he too had now found his pace limit.

Hitech’s Thomas Bearman set a 2m01.497s to edge Hanna by 0.019s and McLaughlin by 0.049s in session four, with Argenti’s Arjen Kraeling in fourth.

Session five on Tuesday was closely contested. Hanna’s 2m02.1s earned him top spot by 0.06s over Raber, with Jeff-Hall, Xcel Motorsport’s Theo Palmer and Bearman all within 0.1s of him.

McLaughlin and Molnar moved into first and second overall in session six, as the former set a 2m01.328s and the latter was just 0.014s behind. Raber was 0.319s back in third.

Half of the field set personal bests in the afternoon, with Bearman taking fourth in the combined classification by topping session seven with a 2m01.466s. He led fellow improver Jeff-Hall by 0.166s and McLaughlin by 0.272s.

Testing concluded with another super close session. Bearman pipped McLaughlin by 0.053s, who was 0.001s faster than Molnar and 0.034s ahead of Jeff-Hall. Fortec Motorsports’ Ary Bansal improved to 2m01.903s in fifth.

There were nine drivers not currently racing in British F4 who took part, including Ginetta Junior frontrunner Alfie Slater (Rodin), younger brother of GB3 race-winner Freddie.

Test results