Van Langendonck goes from pits to victory in drying British F4 race

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck won the final British Formula 4 race of the weekend after starting from the pitlane. 

A gamble to start the race on slick tyres paid off for Van Langendonck, who reclaimed the championship lead with his second victory of the season.

Rain before the start of the race had left the track damp, and the entire field started the formation lap on wet tyres. But roughly half the pack dived into pits at the end of the lap, including Van Langendonck and Tommy Harfield. The choice meant Van Langendonck traded his P8 starting position for a start from the pits.

For the first part of the race, the slick-shod drivers struggled to make up positions. Polesitter Adam Al Azhari battled with Ethan Lennon at the front of the field while Van Langendonck struggled to break into the top 20. 

An off for Haarni Sadiq brought out the safety car, bunching up the field again and putting those who started from the pitlane in a better position to improve.

Harfield and Van Langendonck were immediately on the move on the restart, climbing up into the top 15 before they began to battle one another. Harfield made slight contact with another driver, leaving him with front wing damage that forced him into the pits just as another safety car was called. 

Lewis Wherrell had made a good start and was fourth after the initial restart, but a small mistake sent him through the gravel and out of the race.

Racing resumed with just five minutes remaining and Van Langendonck was again on a charge. He was running 10th when the safety car came out, but soon manoeuvred up to fourth with an impressive move around the outside of multiple drivers. He was soon third and challenging early title rival Ethan Jeff-Hall for position. Jeff-Hall defended well but couldn’t stop Van Langendonck from getting past.

The move past Al Azhari was much simpler. The Rodin Motorsport driver had the better pace and swept through into the race lead.

Al Azhari slipped backwards as those who had gambled on slick tyres came through.

One not to benefit was George Proudford-Nalder who ran wide onto the grass and spun into the wall in the closing laps while battling for seventh. Despite heavy damage to the rear of his car, the race resumed without the need of a safety car.

Kit Belofsky earned his first top 10 finish with second place, albeit 4.018s behind Van Langendonck, with Cole Hewetson in third.

To show the extent of the difference between slick and wet tyres, Harfield recovered to fifth despite pitting for a new front wing under the second safety car. He finished behind Ethan Carney and ahead of Vegard Klemetsen in his best result in the championship to date.

Chiara Battig was another driver who had to come through the field during the race but recovered to seventh, ahead of long-time race leader Al Azhari. Mate Kobakhidze and Joseph Smith completed the top 10. Jeff-Hall finished the race 13th.

Race results (25 laps)