Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Zak O’Sullivan completed a Carlin clean sweep at Brands Hatch with a lights to flag victory in the final British Formula 4 race of the weekend.
O’Sullivan had Fortec Motorsport’s Luke Browning on his tail throughout the race. He was able to pull a small gap towards the midpoint of the 20-minute event, but a late push from Browning upped the pressure in the closing stages.
The championship leader kept cool under pressure, even when third placed driver Alex Connor closed in to make it a three-way fight, and he finished 0.352 seconds ahead of Browning.
The victory extends his lead at the top of the standings to 18 points, with Browning and Arden’s Connor leaving Brands Hatch second and third in the standings.
Fortec’s Roberto Faria finished fourth, while further back Arden’s Roman Bilinski put in a stunning drive to defend his best result from a train of cars. Argenti Motorsport driver Casper Stevenson was joined by JHR Developments’ Abbie Pulling and Carlin’s Christian Mansell in the second half of the race to make it a four-way fight for fifth place.
Mansell had attempted multiple moves on Pulling in the first half of the race, but couldn’t find a way past. The pair came together on the final lap, with Mansell tapping the back of Pulling’s car and sending her into a spin.
Pulling dropped to the back of the order as Stevenson tried to find a way past Bilinski, but Bilinski held firm to secure fifth.
Nico Pino had qualified well to put himself third on the grid for the final race of the weekend. He fell backwards off the line, but was still running in the sharp end of the field when a battle with team-mate Stevenson resulted in him running wide. He suffered damage to his car and took to the Indy track to make his way back to the pits, where he retired.
JHR’s James Hedley climbed up to eighth in a relatively trouble-free race, ahead of team-mate Nathanel Hodgkiss and Arden’s Frederick Lubin.
Race results (14 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 20m52.774s |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Fortec Motorsports | +0.353s |
| 3 | Alex Connor | Arden | +0.894s |
| 4 | Roberto Faria | Fortec Motorsports | +7.729s |
| 5 | Roman Bilinski | Arden | +9.432s |
| 6 | Casper Stevenson | Argenti Motorsport | +9.843s |
| 7 | Christian Mansell | Carlin | +11.959s |
| 8 | James Hedley | JHR Developments | +16.070s |
| 9 | Nathanael Hodgkiss | JHR Developments | +17.770s |
| 10 | Frederick Lubin | Arden | +18.158s |
| 11 | Matias Zagazeta | Carlin | +18.519s |
| 12 | Reema Juffali | Argenti Motorsport | +25.028s |
| 13 | Rafael Villagomez | Fortec Motorsports | +25.536s |
| 14 | Abbi Pulling | JHR Developments | +42.233s |
| Ret | Nico Pino | Argenti Motorsport | |
| Fastest lap: O’Sullivan, 1m28.641s
Championship standings |
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