Fortec’s Linus Granfors tops GB4 pre-event testing at Donington Park

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

GB4 points leader Linus Granfors was fastest in pre-event testing for round three at Donington Park.

The Fortec Motorsports driver posted his best lap in the sixth and final session on Friday to finish 0.365 seconds clear of KMR Sport’s Brandon McCaughan, with Elite Motorsport’s Alisha Palmowski close behind in third.

Chloe Grant led the way 10 minutes into session one on Thursday, and the KMR driver exchanged top spot with her team-mate Harry Burgyoyne Jr and Palmowski before the trio were edged by Elite’s Finn Harrison. Burgoyne went fastest once more at the halfway stage and continued to lower the pace but was eventually beaten by McCaughan who posted a 1m29.799s and then made a number of improvements to end quickest with a 1m29.371s. Granfors was 0.603s behind and just 0.003s ahead of Grant, who improved on her final flying lap to third.

Grant triggered the first red flag of the test by sliding into the gravel with 17 minutes remaining of session two, with Burgoyne heading the timesheet with a 1m32.188s. Harrison moved ahead at the resumption before being displaced by McCaughan who did not improve on his session one best but was fastest once again with a 1m29.895s. Privateer Marcus Luzio went second fastest as the chequered flag fell, demoting Palmowski to third.

McCaughan led again initially in session three with a 1m29.696s before Granfors, Palmowski and Harrison set personal bests to each have brief spells at the top. Palmowski reclaimed top spot with a new benchmark laptime but, with four minutes remaining, Granfors went 0.1s quicker and the Swede then posted two improved efforts to end the day on a 1m29.055s and with a 0.254s advantage.

Palmowski lowered the pace to 1m29.017s halfway into session four on Friday, then improved late on to 1m28.956s to lead Luzio by 0.069s before a trip into the Coppice gravel trap for Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter brought out red flags with less than a minute remaining.

Harrison set a personal best to top session five ahead of McCaughan, but his 1m29.073s lap was not enough to beat his team-mate’s overall benchmark.

In session six, Granfors went to the top 15 minutes in with a 1m29.028s, his personal best lap at that point. He immediately improved to 1m28.789s, putting him top of the test’s combined overall classification, found another 0.1s then went even quicker to end the test with a 1m28.543s. The session ended prematurely after Harrison stopped on track.

McCaughan took second in session six and the combined classification, as Palmowski slipped to third overall having not improved on her session four effort. Luzio and Harrison finished a close fourth and fifth, posting their best laps in sessions four and five respectively, with Baxter’s session four laptime leaving him sixth.

Test results