Sharp extends British F4 lead with Brands Hatch race one win

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Louis Sharp won the opening race of the British Formula 4 season finale on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix layout.

A third place finish for William Macinytre keeps the championship alive, but the gap between the two title contenders is now 13 points with two races remaining. 

Sharp led from lights to flag. It was a strong start from second place starter Deagen Fairclough, but he couldn’t challenge Sharp off the line. 

The Rodin Carlin driver spent the first part of the race building a gap of over a second to Fairclough, while Macintyre passed Hitech GP team-mate James Piszcyk to take third. 

Further back, Freddie Slater stalled off the line and dropped to the back of the field. He was fighting his way back forward when he made contact with Kai Daryanani. Daryanani was sent off into the gravel at the last corner and the safety car was brought out. 

Racing resumed with a little over 11 minutes on the clock. Sharp got the jump on Fairclough, but Fairclough managed to stay within a second of the leader. That was undone when Fairclough ran slightly wide and through the dust, dropping off Sharp’s tail. 

Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Fairclough couldn’t close back in on Sharp and finished 1.076s behind the winner. 

Macintyre had closed up a little to Fairclough after the JHR Developments driver’s wide moment, but Fairclough was able to break away in the closing stages of the race and he had to settle for third. 

Piszyck took fourth, ahead of rookie classification winner Gustav Jonsson. 

Kanato Le led the battle for sixth with Patrick Heuzenroeder and Noah Lisle close behind. Further back in ninth, Jack Sherwood led another trio of cars. He managed to hold off James Higgins and Mika Abrahams, with Slater joining the train in the closing stages of the race.

Race result (13 laps)