Home Featured PaddockScout Awards 2014: Title Fight of the Year

PaddockScout Awards 2014: Title Fight of the Year

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Arjun Maini (IND) Lanan Racing BRDC F4

BRDC F4

George Russell, Arjun Maini, Raoul Hyman and Sennan Fielding

The BRDC F4 Championship began in 2013 with a six-way title fight between promising British youngsters. Things continued in a similar vein in 2014, with the same number of drivers heading into the final round with a chance of being crowned champion.

Those drivers were the trios fielded by the Lanan and HHC squads, who stamped their authority on the series in year two. HHC?s second-year driver Raoul Hyman began the year as the title favourite and won the opening race but great things were also expected of Lanan karting graduate George Russell, who ended the first weekend at Silverstone as the championship leader after two wins of his own.

Russell would lead the way for the majority of the year, taking further wins at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park in the first half of the season. But he struggled to make the podium with the same consistency after that, and this allowed a number of drivers to close up on him.

This included HHC?s Sennan Fielding ? who became the first driver to win all three races in a weekend upon the second visit to Silverstone ? and his own team-mate Arjun Maini, who climbed to second in the standings and just nine points behind Russell after a trio of podiums including a win on the second event at Brands Hatch.

When Russell and Hyman tangled for the second time during the final race of the penultimate round at Donington, Maini was gifted his fourth win of the year and a 21-point margin over Russell to take into the final round. Fielding and Hyman were not far behind, and the third entries of Lanan and HHC respectively Struan Moore and Will Palmer were also in mathematical contention.

Going into the last race of the season, Russell had closed the gap to 13 points with Fielding just a further three back. The grid system of using the fastest laps from the weekend so far put the four remaining contenders in the top four places, with Russell ahead of Hyman, Fielding and Maini. If the positions remained the same at the flag, Russell would be champion by a point.

But he was beaten off the line by Hyman, handing the initiative back to his fellow rookie Maini. However, Russell recovered to reclaim the lead and win the race, and with Maini having to settle for fifth, he was champion.

Peter Allen

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