Ninovic wins disrupted British F4 opener at Donington Park

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic won a stop-start opening British Formula 4 race of the weekend at Donington Park.

Two safety cars and a red flag period interrupted running, and the race ended with a five-minute, four-lap dash to the chequered flag. Despite the shortened distance used in the final results, full points were awarded.

Ninovic had jumped into the lead past polesitter Deagen Fairclough on the opening lap. He didn’t have much time to extend his lead before the safety car was brought out at the end of lap one, after Chloe Chong and Ella Lloyd had both run into the gravel trap in separate incidents.

On the restart, Ninovic got a good getaway and Fairclough was unable to stay with him. Third-placed Rowan Campbell-Pilling couldn’t challenge Fairclough, and the order remained unchanged at the front.

Racing continued for roughly three minutes before safety car was called out again, this time for an incident for Jack Sherwood. Sherwood’s incident would lead to a lengthy delay, and the red flag was thrown to preserve the time left on the clock.

The race was reduced to a four-lap dash, with Ninovic ahead of Fairclough on the grid. Ninovic once again got the best get away and managed to pull away from the championship leader. Fairclough came back on the final lap, setting the fastest lap of the race, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge Ninovic.

Behind him, Leo Robinson came home third after a penalty for Campbell-Pilling. The Argenti driver had been out of place on the initial grid and handed a 10-second time penalty. When the field came to the grid for the restart after the red flag, Campbell-Pilling was moved to the back of the group. He then cut his way back up through the order to take eighth by the chequered flag.

Yuanpu Cui claimed the rookie victory with fifth overall, just behind Kai Daryanani. James Higgins, who had problems in qualifying, finished sixth, ahead of Zack Scoular and Campbell-Pilling.

Reza Seewooruthun had an eventful race. He was eighth after the first safety car and briefly jumped up to sixth, passing Scoular and Daryanani. However, he ran wide on exit and dropped a position. The Hitech driver was back on the move after the red flag, but almost lost the car at Redgate, slipping back a few more positions. He passed Martin Molnar late in the race to take ninth.

Race results (4 laps)