Webster completes Donington win hat-trick in GB4 finale

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Cooper Webster recorded his third victory of the weekend from 11th on the reversed grid as the GB4 season drew to a close at Donington Park.

The Evans GP driver climbed to sixth on the opening lap as Fox Motorsport’s Sid Smith led the way from Jack Clifford and Aditya Kulkarni.

Webster passed Lucas Blakeley for fifth at Melbourne hairpin on lap two, and Harry Burgoyne Jr for fourth at the same corner next time by.

The Australian was again better on the brakes into Melbourne on the fourth lap, taking third away from Kulkarni, and it didn’t take him long to catch and pass Clifford for second.

He then forced Smith to defend the lead into the Fogarty Esses but was unable to make a move into the hairpin due to double-waved yellow flags for Dylan Hotchin’s stricken car, which had been rear-ended by VRD’s Zack Ping.

The safety car was soon deployed as a result of the incident, and Webster pounced at restart with five minutes remaining to draw alongside Smith into Redgate. The pair continued to go wheel-to-wheel through the Craner Curves and Old Hairpin, with Clifford and Colin Queen joining the squabble.

Webster edged ahead approaching Macleans, but Smith and Clifford tangled and went off the road, with Queen and Kulkarni taking second and third. The top three remained in position until the chequered flag, with Webster scoring his fifth win of the season by 0.756s and also finished runner-up in the standings.

Burgoyne came home 0.5s behind Kulkarni in fourth, with Blakeley fifth ahead of Theo Micouris. Liam McNeilly recovered from an opening-lap spin to seventh ahead of Finn Harrison, with Sebastian Murray and Dan Hickey completing the top 10.

Race result (12 laps)