Fairclough wins again in British F4’s first Silverstone race

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Deagan Fairclough claimed a lights-to-flag victory in the opening British Formula 4 race of the weekend at Silverstone.

Light rain began to fall in the closing stages of the race, but it was not enough to disrupt Fairclough on his way to his fifth win of the season.

The Hitech GP driver found more and more pace as the race wore on, setting the fastest lap as he took the chequered flag 4.770 seconds clear of the rest of the field.

The only thing that disrupted Fairclough’s run was an early safety car period. Jack Sherwood did not get the best of starts from third on the grid and was caught up in a battle with Rowan Campbell-Pilling. Sherwood made slight contact with another driver and was sent into the gravel at Club corner, while Campbell-Pilling limped off track and out of the race. 

Racing resumed with a little over half of the race remaining. Fairclough and Reza Seewooruthun immediately pulled away and would be untouchable for the remainder of the race. 

Behind them, James Higgins and Alex Ninovic were engaged in a tight battle for third. Higgins held the position for much of the race until Ninovic managed to find a way through for his fifth consecutive podium finish.

The main battle for most of the race was further down the field, as a train of cars formed behind Ella Lloyd. She had initially held a small gap as Yuanpu Cui and Leo Robinson fought for sixth. The duo were able to close in on her late on, and less than 0.8s separated the trio when they took the chequered flag.

Joel Berstrom finished eighth, ahead of Kai Daryanani and Mika Abrahams.

Race result (9 laps)