Noah Lisle takes dominant first British F4 win at Donington Park

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Noah Lisle dominated the third British Formula 4 race of the season at Donington Park, winning by 13.5 seconds ahead of Rodin Carlin team-mate Dion Gowda. 

A damp track awaited drivers for race three of the weekend, which caught a few young drivers out on the opening lap. One of the first of those was points leader Louis Sharp, who ran wide through the gravel and dropped down the order from second place.  

Lisle, who started on pole, wasn’t alone up front for long as the safety car was brought out to clear Daniel Gunchard’s car. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver had come to a stop after contact with another driver sent him into a spin. 

When racing resumed, Lisle got a strong getaway while Gowda and Deagen Fairclough battled for second. The two ran side-by-side for most of the lap, with Fairclough just managing to get ahead. Gowda struck back and the battle continued, allowing LIsle to run away at the front and James Higgins and Jack Sherwood to close in behind. 

Fairclough was forced slightly wide, allowing Gowda through to second. He managed to break free from those behind, but couldn’t close the gap to his team-mate ahead who is not confirmed to be participating in any more rounds this year.

Lisle set multiple fastest laps on his way to the chequered flag, becoming the only driver to lap sub-1m14s during the race. While he had a huge winning marging, Gowda was only a second clear of the battle for third. 

After a side-by-side moment, Sherwood was able to get past Fairclough to take the final podium position. 

Behind them, Kenato Le was battling to try to keep Gabriel Stilp behind him when contact with an inside kerb sent him into a spin. William Macintyre narrowly avoided making contact with the spinning car, but survived and continued his own charge forward. He climbed to fifth ahead of the recovering Sharp. 

Stilp spent the closing stages of the race battling Patrick Heuzenroeder, trying to keep the Argenti Motorsport driver behind him. The battle was slightly disrupted by Sharp’s charge forward, and Heuzenroeder was able to follow Sharp past Stilp. 

Heuzenroeder couldn’t stay close behind Sharp but did follow him past James Higgins to take seventh. 

Stilp picked up ninth while Gustav Jonsson completed the top 10.  Alpine junior Aiden Neate, who stalled on the grid, finished 11th. 

Race results (15 laps)