James Higgins takes lights-to-flag British F4 victory at Brands Hatch

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

James Higgins led from lights to flag to earn his maiden British Formula 4 victory on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout.

The Fortec Motorsports driver was under pressure from William Macintyre throughout the race but held on to win by 0.588 seconds. 

Higgins started from pole and got a good start off the line. He had begun to pull away from Macintyre behind when the safety car was brought out. In the midfield, Aqil Alibhai and Jack Sherwood came together, with Alibhai spinning and clipping Sherwood. Sherwood hit the barrier, while Alibhai was forced to stop with damaged suspension. 

Macintyre was brought back onto Higgins’ tail, with the fast-starting Jaden Pariat close behind. On the restart, Macintyre was able to stay with Higgins, while Pariat was passed by Daniel Guinchard and Louis Sharp. 

The top four broke away from the rest of the field. At times, the quartet split into two battling groups before being brought back together. Guinchard set the fastest lap of the race, but couldn’t shake off Sharp for long. 

In the closing stages of the race, Macintyre was right behind Higgins, but the poleman didn’t put a wheel wrong and took his and Fortec’s first victory of the season. Hitech’s Macintyre finished second, ahead of Guinchard and Sharp. 

Pariat held onto fifth, despite pressure from James Piszcyk. Gustav Jonsson claimed his second rookie victory, finishing seventh overall. Kenato Le and Gabriel Stilp picked up eighth and ninth while race two winner Dion Gowda completed the top 10. 

Race results (23 laps)