Virtuosi’s Aqil Alibhai wins reversed-grid British F4 race at Snetterton

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Aqil Alibhai held off Noah Lisle to become the sixth different winner of the British Formula 4 season in the reversed-grid race at Snetterton. 

The Virtuosi Racing driver managed a safety car restart on the way to his first single-seater racing victory.

There was a chaotic opening lap, with a number of drivers running wide and Kai Daryanani suffering a spin. The safety car was called as Deagen Fairclough ran off, but the JHR Developments driver was able to get going again under his own power. 

Pole-sitter Douwe Dedecker had managed to hold onto first place ahead of Isaac Barashi and Alibhai, but wouldn’t remain there for long. 

Alibhai got the best run on the safety car restart, quickly passing Barashi and closing in on Dedecker. After only a few corners, the Ginetta Junior graduate had passed Dedecker for the lead, with Lisle following him through. 

Alibhai was working on extending a gap at the front of the order when another safety car period bunched up the field. Daniel Guinchard and Josh Irfan had been running nose-to-tail as Guinchard tried to pass Louis Sharp. Both ran wide, with Irfan making contact with the barriers. Guinchard was able to continue but came into the pits with damage. 

It was a lengthy safety car interruption as Irfan’s car was removed from the barriers, and racing resumed with three-and-a-half minutes remaining. 

Alibhai made a strong getaway to keep Lisle behind him and was untroubled for the remainder of the race. Lisle did stay close though, and set the fastest lap on the final tour to close the gap at the front to just 0.339 seconds.

Patrick Heuzenroeder had a strong start to the race and was running third when the safety car came out for a second. He held onto the position as Sonny Smith and James Piszcyk battled behind him, earning his first series podium. 

Smith held onto fourth ahead of Pisczcyk and a charging Will Macintyre, who climbed up from 17th on the grid. Gustav Jonsson enjoyed a strong charge after a brake sensor problem in qualifying meant he started from the back of the grid. He finished eighth, just behind Aiden Neate. 

Early championship leader Sharp hit trouble during the second safety car period, dropping him out of the points-paying positions, while Dedecker fell back late on and then dropped to the back of the pack. 

Gabriel Stilp and Matteo de Palo completed the top 10, while Jaden Pariat was absent as he was not medically cleared to race following an x-ray on a wrist injury.

Race results (9 laps)