Piszcyk tops race one podium but loses British F4 title to McLaughlin

Photo: Red Bull

James Piszcyk won British Formula 4’s first race on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix layout, but had his title hopes end as Fionn McLaughlin was crowned in second place.

The Hitech GP driver clinched the title with two races to spare by finishing 0.399 seconds behind main rival Piszcyk, who led lights-to-flag.

The poleman got a poor start, but managed to stay ahead of McLaughlin and Adam Al Azhari. His Rodin Motorsport team-mate initially challenged McLaughlin, but then came under attack from Argenti Motorsport’s Ethan Jeff-Hall.

He had started fifth after receiving a three-place grid penalty for a qualifying infringement but rose to third early on and kept with the top two while Al Azhari slipped backwards.

The leading trio would spread out, with Piszcyk briefly pulling more than a second away before being reeled in. McLaughlin was never close enough to make a move for victory, but held onto second comfortably ahead of Jeff-Hall.

Al Azhari set the fastest lap, but still finished more than three seconds behind Jeff-Hall in fourth, ahead of Virtuosi Racing’s Martin Molnar and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield.

Further down the field, there was pre-race drama. Dries Van Langendonck and August Raber were due to start from the pitlane, but Raber encountered problems on the way from the paddock and missed the race. Rowan Campbell-Pilling was also absent due to repair work following an incident in qualifying.

Van Langendonck did take part in the race, and came from the back of the field to finish 14th. He was aided in his climb up the order when Cole Hewetson was forced to pit early on after contact sent him spinning and caused a rear-left puncture.

Chase Fernandez, who started directly ahead of Hewetson, avoided the drama and came home seventh, ahead of Xavier Avramides and Alexandar Savinkov. He spent most of the race battling with Thomas Bearman for 10th.

Savinkov managed to find a way through in the closing laps, then a race-ending off for Theo Palmer on the penultimate lap promoted the pair each up a spot in the points positions.

Race results (14 laps)