Sharp closes British F4 points gap with Donington win

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Louis Sharp closed the gap at the top of the British Formula 4 championship standings with victory in the first of four races this weekend at Donington Park. 

The Rodin Carlin driver is now just three points behind Will Macintyre in the championship standings, as Macintyre fought back to ninth in the race. 

Sharp took the race lead from Mika Abrahams early on and did not relinquish it through the remainder of the 20 minute race. He didn’t have much time to pull away from Abrahams, as the safety car was brought out for an incident between Isaac Barashi and Alvise Rodella. 

When racing resumed, there were only eight minutes left on the clock. Sharp wasted no time pulling away from Abrahams. While Abrahams did set the fastest lap of the race, he couldn’t keep up the pace and Sharp extended a gap of 1.594s by the chequered flag. 

Macinytre had started outside the top 10 after an incident in qualifying meant he missed the end of the session. He made a good start and was running 10th by the safety car period, aided by two drivers getting punctures and Dion Gowda and Patrick Heuzenroeder starting from the pit lane. 

He continued to fight his way forward in the second half of the race but only got up to ninth before getting stuck behind Kenato Le.

Meanwhile, Freddie Slater held onto third on the opening lap but slipped behind Gustav Jonsson. Jonsson enjoyed a strong restart but couldn’t keep up with Abrahams and finished third. 

Slater took fourth in his British F4 debut, ahead of James Higgins. 

Gabriel Stilp led a train of drivers through much of the race, with his Hitech GP team-mates James Piszcyk, Le and Macintyre all close behind. As Le and Macintyre battled for position, Stilp and Piszcyk began to break away, Stilp holding onto the position to come home sixth. 

Race result (12 laps)