Sharp wins restarted race at Croft to close in on British F4 points lead

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Rodin Carlin’s Louis Sharp took a lights-to-flag win in the third British Formula 4 race at Croft, which was restarted following a dramatic opening lap.

It began with Gabriel Stilp stalling on the grid, then James Higgins spinning into the turn one gravel. He had been in second place, and went off after light contact with William Macintyre who himself had been tapped from behind.

Higgins’ Fortec Motorsports team-mate Mika Abrahams had his own race-ending off two corners later, and Argenti Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder had a scary crash at the chicane while running side-by-side with Noah Lisle. He lost his front wing, then his car flew into the air but thankfully landed safely on the grass and without being hit by anyone.

The race was red flagged, and when it was eventually restarted the original grid was used but with gaps left for the three drivers who had gone off. There was also a bit of rain falling, with everyone on slicks, making the second start even more challenging.

But the 12-lap race that followed was clean, with Sharp leading down to turn one and – aside from a lock-up on that lap – having a mistake-free run to his second win of the weekend and fourth of the season.

Macintyre finished 1.962 seconds behind in second place, with his championship lead over Sharp now down to six points.

Deagen Fairclough took his fourth podium of the year in third place, and dedicated the result to the late Bob Fernley.

Dion Gowda finished a distant fourth, just ahead of Carlin team-mate Josh Irfan. Noah Lisle was in sixth until lap 11 when an aggressive defence into turn one led to him going too deep into the corner, and then at the chicane he hit the kerbs. He lost out to Kanato Le, who he was defending against, as well as Gustav Jonsson and James Piszyck.

The biggest battle of the race was for 10th place. Jack Sherwood held the position until the final lap, when Aqil Alibhai got past and immediately pulled away. Gabriel Stilp and Sonny Smith ran in a queue behind them for much of the race, but were gapped towards the end.

Race results (12 laps)