Leo Robinson tops F4 test at Brands Hatch, Alex Kattoulas leads GB4

Photo: Formula Winter Series

Hitech GP’s Leo Robinson was quickest in Tuesday’s combined test for Formula 4 and GB4 cars on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix layout.

Robinson ended the day 0.381 seconds clear of JHR Developments’ Rowan Campbell-Pilling, and his team-mate Fionn McLaughlin was within 0.5s of the pace in third. Alex Kattoulas, meanwhile, led an Elite Motorsport 1-2-3 in GB4.

The first two sessions were held in wet conditions, and Argenti Motorsport’s August Raber topped session one with a 1m35.394s. Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield was 0.833s adrift in second, with Raber’s team-mate Ethan Jeff-Hall and Xcel Motorsport’s Cole Hewetson a further 0.2s behind.

JHR’s Harri Reynolds lowered the test pace to 1m35.006s in the early stages of session two, and Virtuosi Racing’s Martin Molnar and Joslyn eclipsed that effort late on before Harfield set a 1m34.226s to be quickest by 0.416s.

Harfield’s benchmark was soon beaten in session three, as conditions had improved. Rodin Motorsport’s James Piszcyk exchanged top spot with Xcel’s Chase Fernandez and Jeff-Hall, but it was McLaughlin who ended up fastest by setting a 1m26.055s with 10 minutes to go. Campbell-Billing made a late improvement to get within 0.031s of him, and Jeff-Hall edged Piszcyk to third.

In session four the track was even quicker, and Campbell-Pilling lowered the pace to 1m25.974s before Robinson set his test-topping 1m25.953s lap with two minutes of the day’s running remaining. Pisczyk was fourth overall ahead of Jeff-Hall, Molnar and Joslyn.

Douglas Motorsport’s Enzo Hallman produced a late effort to lead the GB4 contingent in session one by 0.099s, with Elite duo Kattoulas and Isaac Phelps behind him. Arden’s Leon Wilson was the quickest driver throughout session two, his personal best of 1m34.350s putting him 0.373s clear of Hallman and with Phelps the only other driver within a second of him.

Hallman and Hilton traded fastest laps in session three before Phelps moved ahead of the pair with a 1m26.715s, but it was Kattoulas’s 1m26.690s effort at the halfway stage which was good enough to head his GB4 rivals, with Phelps and fellow Elite driver Ary Bansal less than 0.1s behind.

Phelps led Fortec Motorsports’ Jack Taylor and Wilson in session four but, with nobody beating his pace-setting time from session three, Kattoulas ended the test as the fastest GB4 driver and 10th overall. GB4 is using a detuned GB3 car this year.

Test results