Home Formula 4British F4 Noah Lisle takes dominant first British F4 win at Donington Park

Noah Lisle takes dominant first British F4 win at Donington Park

by Bethonie Waring

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)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Noah Lisle Carlin 20m17.572s
2 Dion Gowda Carlin +13.537s
3 Jack Sherwood Chris Dittmann Racing +14.820s
4 Deagen Fairclough JHR Developments +15.954s
5 William Macintyre Hitech GP +17.992s
6 Louis Sharp Carlin +19.108s
7 Patrick Heuzenroeder Argenti Motorsport +23.969s
8 James Higgins Fortec Motorsports +24.789s
9 Gabriel Stilp Hitech GP +25.219s
10 Gustav Jonsson Chris Dittmann Racing +26.066s
11 Aiden Neate Fortec Motorsports +27.138s
12 Jaden Pariat Argenti Motorsport +28.908s
13 Josh Irfan Carlin +31.151s
14 Sonny Smith Argenti Motorsport +31.614s
15 Isaac Barashi Argenti Motorsport +44.565s
16 Kanato Le Hitech GP +1m04.005s
17 Douwe Dedecker Virtuosi Racing +1m10.073s
18 James Piszcyk Hitech GP +1m14.128s
19 Aqil Alibhai Virtuosi Racing +5 laps
Ret Kai Daryanani Virtuosi Racing
Ret Daniel Guinchard Chris Dittmann Racing
Fastest lap: Lisle, 1m13.416s

Championship standings
1 Sharp 59   2 Lisle 51   3 Gowda 41   4 Fairclough 26   5 Neate 22   6 Higgins 22   7 Macintyre 18   8 Guinchard 17   9 Sherwood 17   10 Le 17