Photo: Mat Acton
Elite Motorsport’s Fred Green won his first two single-seater races lights-to-flag as the 2026 GB4 season got underway at Silverstone.
Having finished runner-up with the team in Ginetta Junior last year with seven victories from his last nine races, Green continued that momentum into GB4, marking himself as one of the early favourties by topping both pre-season and pre-event testing at the Northamptonshire venue.
The 16-year-old continued to lead the timesheets for most of qualifying, sporting a papaya livery after being selected as one of four drivers in Elite’s new talent pathway with McLaren’s GT racing operation.
His 2m01.936s benchmark was beaten by team-mate and fellow Ginetta Junior graduate Emilio Valentino Del Grosso, but Green soon restored his advantage with an improved 2m00.694s and then went quicker still with a 2m00.638s.
Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing’s Luke Hilton sneaked ahead by 0.009s and then found a further 0.069s to end with a best time of 2m00.560s – provisionally snatching double-pole away from Green. But Hilton was subsequently excluded from qualifying for ignoring yellow flags.
Green therefore lined up at the front of a record field of 29 cars for season-opening race, and he made good use of pole to lead into Copse while Del Grosso climbed from fourth on the grid to snatch second away from KMR Sport’s Alex O’Grady.
There was no change to the front three from there, with Green controlling a late safety car restart before leading home an Elite one-two, and O’Grady holding off fellow GB4 sophomore Thomas Ingram Hill (Fortec Motorsports) for the final podium spot.
“Really happy and satisfied with what we have done so far,” said Green. “I made slight mistake on the second lap, being put under a bit of pressure, we dealt with that and managed to extend the gap again. It gives me confidence but it’s also nice to get a race under my belt and I can still improve.”
Jason Smyth, another high-profile rookie on the back of winning the United Formula Ford Championship, Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy last season, gained one place to finish fifth ahead of his Douglas Motorsport team-mate Dayton Coulthard.
Hillspeed’s Enzo Hallman lost out in a battle with his former team-mate Coulthard and came home seventh, while Hilton made a stunning recovery from the back of the grid to eighth.
“It’s racing,” Hilton reflected on his qualifying exclusion. “It’s my fault that I lost a double-pole, but I knew we would have the pace in the race, I just made sure I was extra careful coming through the pack.”
Green led Hallmann in turn one at the start of race two, while a car issue prevented Del Grosso from taking his third-placed grid spot and O’Grady lost out to Smyth after being slow away from the second row.
The safety car was deployed at the end of lap due to a number of incidents. Scorpio Racing’s Archie Davies ended up on the grass before Copse and retired in the gravel, and there as further drama at Becketts where Coulthard and Ingram Hill collided after a three-wide battle with O’Grady.
Pace Performance’s Torrin Byrne tangled with another car at the same corner and retired, while KMR Sport’s Holly Miall also sustained a puncture on the opening lap and headed for the pitlane.
The race resumed with 10 minutes remaining, with Green keeping Hallman at bay, but there was less than two laps of green-flag running before the safety car was required again due to Miall and Fox Motorsport’s Archie Bullard retired at Luffield.
Officials then brought out the red flags, with Green declared the winner ahead of Hallmann in a four-lap contest. Ingram Hill passed Smyth for third before the second safety car period, but with the results put back by one lap, Smyth was promoted to the podium.
“A bit lucky to be honest, but we’ll take it,” said Smyth. “We know we are there on pace, we should have done a lap time that would have put us on pole. We know we’ve got really good pace on used tyres, it’s just I haven’t got there with maximising pace on new tyres. First time in dirty air because I’m used to [wingless] FFord’s. It’s about re-learning stuff.”
Achituv initially passed O’Grady to finish fifth, but was handed a one-place penalty for gaining an unfair advantage. Hilton produced another impressive comeback drive, gaining 14 places on the opening lap and eventually finishing 11th.
The final contest was an equally truncated affair. Scorpio’s Romauld Boquet led away from reversed-grid pole, while Achituv swept around the outside of Charlie Myers for second at Becketts. Coulthard was next to dispatch Myers with a move up the inside of Copse, but the race was then red-flagged duo a single-car incident at Club involving Miall who walked away unharmed.
The race was restarted following a 10-minute delay with a grid start, and Bocquet led away once more. But soon the race was neutralised again after Ingram Hill lost his rear wing in a tangle in another incident at Club.
The safety car peeled into the pitlane with one lap to go, with Bocquet remaining ahead until the chequered flag. But, as he crossed the line, he was awarded a 10s penalty – costing him and Scorpio and maiden triumph. Having wrestled second away from Achituv with switchback move at Club on the final lap, Coulthard inherited his second GB4 win.
“I saw the jump-start for [Bocquet], and I knew it was going to be all-or-nothing for first place, so I saw a chance and I took it,” Coulthard revealed. “It’s been a better [weekend] with a result like that but it’s been a bit rough, it’s not been the best, but it’s a positive way to end things.”
Achituv took second, and Bocquet’s team-mate Davies completed the podium. Smyth was fourth ahead of Hallman, Myets, O’Grady and McLean.
Green suffered a puncture in a collision with Ingram Hill prior to the red flag and eventually finished 17th, and despite another surge up the field to 17th early on, Hilton was also forced to pit with front-wing damage and was classified 20th.
Results round-up
Race 1 (9 laps)
1 Fred Green Elite Motorsport 20m11.392s
2 Emilio Valentino Del Grosso Elite Motorsport +2.147s
3 Alex O’Grady KMR Sport+3.136s
4 Thomas Ingram Hill Fortec Motorsports +3.331s
5 Jason Smyth Douglas Motosport +4.259s
6 Dayton Coulthard Douglas Motorsport +5.017s
7 Enzo Hallman Hillspeed +5.449s
8 Luke Hilton Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing +7.500s
9 Torrin Byrne Pace Performance +9.148s
10 Connor Willis Hillspeed +9.587s
Pole: Green, 2m00.638s
Fastest lap: Green, 2m01.643s
Race 2 (4 laps)
1 Green 11m47.182s
2 Hallman +0.670s
3 Smyth +2.445s
4 Ingram Hill +2.795s
5 O’Grady +4.343s
6 Matan Achituv Elite Motorsport (1 pos penalty)
7 Romuald Bocquet Scorpio Racing +4.621s
8 Willis +5.088s
9 Joshua McLean +5.375s
10 Conor Grant Douglas Motorsport +6.147s
P: Green, 2m00.541s
FL: Green, 2m04.037s
Race 3 (4 laps)
1 Coulthard 11m13.985s
2 Achituv +0.926s
3 Davies +1.181s
4 Smyth +1.510s
5 Hallman Hillspeed +1.949s
6 Charlie Myers Arden +3.795s
7 O’Grady +4.016s
8 Willis +4.193s
9 Byrne +4.555s
10 McLean +4.744s
FL: Bocquet, 2m03.339s
Championship standings
1 Green 70 2 Hallman 60 3 Smyth 59 4 O’Grady 56 5 Coulthard 45 6 Achituv 7 Ingram Hill 42 8 McLean 34 9 Willis 32 10 Hilton 30