Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
James Higgins claimed his first British Formula 4 victory of the season ahead of Deagen Fairclough in a rescheduled race at Donington Park.
The second race of the weekend was postponed from the opening meeting of the season, which took place on Donington’s national circuit and was cancelled due to weather conditions.
Alex Ninovic started from pole ahead of Rodin Motorsport team-mate Higgins, but would not stay there for long. A lock-up sent Ninovic wide on the second lap and he tumbled down the order to P14, as Fairclough passed Kai Daryanani to take second.
Before he could begin to close in on Higgins, Daryanani ran into trouble at Redgate, bringing out the safety car and bunching up the field again.
Higgins got a good getaway when racing resumed with 10 minutes remaining, managing to pull away from Fairclough. Fairclough allowed the gap to extend until the closing stages of the race. He then put in the fastest lap as he chased after the leader.
In the final laps of the race, the two were nose-to-tail. A lock-up from Higgins allowed Fairclough to get alongside him, but Higgins managed to hold onto the position. They were separated by just 0.204s as they took the chequered flag, but Higgins had done enough to take his first win of the season.
Just behind them, Jack Sherwood managed to hold onto the podium position after a battle with Reza Seewooruthun and Leo Robinson. Seewooruthun and Robinson had been engaged in battle for most of the race, swapping positions and staying close to Sherwood. A lock-up from Sherwood in the final laps almost led to contact between the two drivers behind, but all three held on to take the chequered flag, with Seewooruthun holding off Robinson.
Alex Berg took sixth ahead of a small train of drivers. Ninovic had climbed up to seventh but ran out of laps before he could challenge Berg ahead. Behind him, Yuanpu Cui, Zack Scoular and Martin Molnar completed the top 10.
Race results (13 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Higgins | Rodin Motorsport | 21m13.905s |
| 2 | Deagen Fairclough | Hitech GP | +0.204s |
| 3 | Jack Sherwood | Rodin Motorsport | +3.067s |
| 4 | Reza Seewooruthun | Hitech GP | +3.625s |
| 5 | Leo Robinson | JHR Developments | +3.845s |
| 6 | Alex Berg | Fortec Motorsports | +7.777s |
| 7 | Alex Ninovic | Rodin Motorsport | +8.763s |
| 8 | Yuanpu Cui | Argenti Motorsport | +9.047s |
| 9 | Zack Scoular | Xcel Motorsport | +9.176s |
| 10 | Martin Molnar | Virtuosi Racing | +9.849s |
| 11 | Bart Harrison | Chris Dittmann Racing | +12.713s |
| 12 | August Raber | Xcel Motorsport | +13.558s |
| 13 | Rowan Campbell-Pilling | Argenti Motorsport | +13.985s |
| 14 | Maxwell Dodds | Virtuosi Racing | +16.158s |
| 15 | Yuhao Fu | Virtuosi Racing | +18.014s |
| Ret | Chloe Chong | JHR Developments | +26.352s |
| Ret | Ella Lloyd | JHR Developments | +1 lap |
| Ret | Kai Daryanani | Fortec Motorsports | |
| Fastest lap: Fairclough, 1m29.087s
Championship standings |
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