Fairclough gets another British F4 win after clash with Ninovic

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Deagan Fairclough won the third British Formula 4 race on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout after an intense battle with Alex Ninovic that left his rival in the gravel.

Ninovic got the best start to snatch the lead off the line from poleman Fairclough. He led for the majority of the race, but never had much of a gap to Fairclough.

The top two broke away from Mika Abrahams and Reza Seewooruthun, who were fighting for third, and ran nose-to-tail until the closing stages of the race. Fairclough tried to get alongside multiple times, but it was not until a small mistake from Ninovic that the championship leader had the opportunity he needed. Ninovic ran slightly wide and Fairclough dived down the inside. The two made slight contact, and Ninovic was sent through the gravel and out of the race. 

Fairclough completed the final two laps unrivalled to take the victory.

The battle between Abrahams and Seewooruthun never became as tight as the one ahead of them, and Abrahams came through to finish half a second behind Fairclough in second.

For much of the race, the main battle was in the middle of the top 10.

Jack Sherwood led a train of drivers in sixth place, with Yuanpu Cui and Zack Scoular the closest to him. Cui managed to get alongside Sherwood and the pair ran side-by-side for several corners. Before that could be resolved, Scoular joined them to make it three-wide.

A slightly wide moment for Cui dropped him back into the train and Sherwood was able to shake off Scoular. Sherwood then broke away, leaving Cui to lead the pack of cars still fighting for position.

Unfortunately, the battle led to many drivers running wide and Sherwood and Scoular got time penalties for exceeding track limits.

Cui finished fifth, behind James Higgins who enjoyed a quiet race in fourth place. Abbi Pulling had been part of the midfield fight but managed to keep her car on track to take sixth, ahead of Leo Robinson and Alex Berg. Bart Harrison and Martin Molnar completed the top 10.

Race results (26 laps)