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

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)