Neate tops British F4 testing at Brands Hatch, Argenti runs karter

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

British Formula 4 held pre-event testing at Brands Hatch on Wednesday, although used the circuit’s Indy layout rather than the Grand Prix loop it will race on this weekend.

The test day was split into two sessions, a four-hour one in the morning and a three-hour session in the afternoon.

Argenti Motorsport was the first team on track in the morning, with its regular line-up of drivers joined by British karter Josh Irfan. He got his first mileage in a F4 car with the team in a private test at Pembrey this July.

It was Argenti’s drivers that topped the times from start to finish, with Aiden Neate initially setting the pace. Daniel Guinchard then brought the pace down into 45s territory, with the pair ending the first hour in the top two positions.

They stayed there until the end of the second hour, which featured little track action, as Neate improved his best time to 45.132s to move back ahead.

Neate improved further in the third hour, setting a 45.022s lap, and that kept him on top until the chequered flag. Guinchard was shuffled down to third place by JHR Developments’ Joseph Loake, who rose up the order in the last two hours.

The afternoon session was considerably slower, with Neate the only driver on track in the first 25 minutes. Once again he spent much of the action at the top, with Loake his closest rival until the final half-hour when he outpaced him with a 50.330s lap and Guinchard also went faster.

With 11 minutes to go, there were improvements from Jack Sherwood, Adam Fitzgerland and Oliver Stewart that sent them to the top, but the track was still getting faster and in the final minutes JHR’s Noah Lisle went fastest with a 49.572s laptime. Sherwood ended the session in second, with Louis Sharp rising to third at the end.

Test results