Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
A stop-start opening British Formula 4 race of the weekend at Snetterton came to an end after only a handful of laps, and will be re-run later this season.
Louis Sharp crossed the start-finish line first before the second red flag of the race, in which a total of just three laps were completed.
The Rodin Carlin driver had claimed the lead from team-mate Dion Gowda on the initial start before multiple incidents further down the field brought out the safety car on the second lap.
Will Macintyre and Patrick Heuzenroeder ran into problems early on the opening lap, while Noah Lisle limped across the line with a technical problem before finding a safe place to leave his car.
Before the safety car could be called, an incident involving Josh Irfan, Aqil Alibhai and Jaden Pariat took place at Wilsons. Alibhai was able to rejoin the race, but Irfan and Pariat were forced to retire.
A red flag was called so the cars could be recovered and the field re-gridded in the order they had followed the safety car.
Racing resumed with 12 minutes on the clock. This time, Gowda was able to get a better start and was challenging Kenato Le, who had jumped past Gowda on the initial start. Gowda couldn’t find a way through and dropped slightly away from the Hitech driver. Aiden Neate closed in on Gowda and was looking for a way past when the race was red-flagged again.
Daniel Guinchard had an apparent mechanical problem and was unable to get his car stopped before hitting the barriers. Guinchard was able to get out of the car, but the incident caused significant barrier damage, prompting the red flag. This time the race would not be resumed.
When the second red flag was thrown, Sharp led Le, Gowda, and Neate. Deagan Fairclough climbed up from 10th on the grid to fifth, with James Piszyk and Sonny Smith sixth and seventh. After starting from the back of the grid, Gustav Jonsson ended the race as top rookie in eighth overall, just ahead of championship newcomer Matteo de Palo and Jack Sherwood.
However, it was decided that the race should be declared null and void, with the championship announcing plans to re-run it as part of its second visit to Donington Park in August: the penultimate meeting of the season.