Home Formula 4British F4 Sharp comes from back of reversed grid to win again in British F4

Sharp comes from back of reversed grid to win again in British F4

by Bethonie Waring

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Louis Sharp comes from the back of the grid to win the second British Formula 4 race of the season at Donington Park. 

The race one winner put in a storming drive to climb up through the field and led by more than five seconds at the chequered flag. Aiden Neate finished second, and Jaden Pariat rounded out the podium.

Isaac Barashi started from reversed-grid pole, but a poor getaway dropped him behind James Piszcyk on lap one. Another wide moment dropped him further back, and Sonny Smith came through to challenge Piszcyk for the early race lead. 

A wide moment at the Old Hairpin for Piszyck allowed Smith to come through, but the Hitech GP driver stayed close behind Smith and continued their battle.

After about a lap of fighting, the pair were joined by Kenato Le but before it could become a three-way lead battle the safety car was brought out as Barashi’s race had gone from bad to worse and he had beached himself in the gravel.

Le removed himself from the lead fight with a spin just as the safety car was summoned, which promoted Pariat, Neate and Sharp into third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

Sharp had enjoyed a quiet race up until that moment, carefully picking his way up through the order. It put him in the perfect position to attack when racing resumed.

A wide moment through the gravel for Piszyck meant Pariat, Neate and Sharp were fighting directly with the race leader when the track turned green. It didn’t take Sharp long to sneak through to the front, with Neate following him past Smith to drop the long-time leader to third. 

Rodin Carlin driver Sharp put in multiple fastest laps as he extended his lead, while an understeering moment for Smith meant Fortec Motorsports’ Neate also had a considerable gap behind him. 

Sharp was 5.434s ahead at the finish for his fourth career win, while Neate had a 2.273s gap to third. 

After his mistake dropped him down through the order, Le spent the second half of the race on a strong recovery drive and managed to climb back up to fourth. Aqil Alibhai picked up fifth ahead of James Higgins and rookie classification winner Josh Irfan. 

Daniel Guinchard was on for a strong finish and was battling Noah Lisle late on before a spin on the final lap dropped him to 17th. Lisle came home eighth to score the last point.

Race results (15 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Louis Sharp Carlin 20m05.309s
2 Aiden Neate Fortec Motorsports +5.434s
3 Jaden Pariat Argenti Motorsport +7.707s
4 Kanato Le Hitech GP +9.075s
5 Aqil Alibhai Virtuosi Racing +10.657s
6 James Higgins Fortec Motorsports +10.820s
7 Josh Irfan Rodin Carlin +12.112s
8 Noah Lisle Carlin +13.898s
9 Dion Gowda Carlin +14.666s
10 Patrick Heuzenroeder Argenti Motorsport +15.474s
11 James Piszcyk Hitech GP +16.242s
12 Deagen Fairclough JHR Developments +16.565s
13 Jack Sherwood Chris Dittmann Racing +17.661s
14 Gustav Jonsson Chris Dittmann Racing +18.835s
15 Sonny Smith Argenti Motorsport +20.854s
16 Gabriel Stilp Hitech GP +22.108s
17 Daniel Guinchard Chris Dittmann Racing +23.301s
18 Douwe Dedecker Virtuosi Racing +38.680s
19 Kai Daryanani Virtuosi Racing +40.016s
20 William Macintyre Hitech GP +45.632s
Ret Isaac Barashi Argenti Motorsport
Fastest lap: Sharp, 1m13.851s

Championship standings
1 Sharp 41   2 Lisle 22   3 Guinchard 15   4 Neate 12   5 Gowda 12   6 Pariat 10   7 Le 10   8 Fairlcough 10   9 Macintyre 8   10 Higgins 8