Chris Mealin left last weekend at the Rockingham Motor Speedway as the happiest driver as he now commands a 14 point lead in the standings. Good results early in the weekend ensured he took the lead of the BRDC Formula 4 championship. While his victory in the final race helped him extend his advantage over nearest rival Rodrigo Fonseca.
In the first race, Mealin started ninth, but the various incidents ensured he dropped four places by the end of the first lap. Despite this he fought on and managed to work his way through the field to put him in a promising position. He was thrown a life line on the last lap when a further battle allowed him to gain places as others were involved in incidents.
He finished the first race in fourth place, a good result for the Lanan Racing driver. He continued to make good progress in the second race, he fell back as a result of a clash with Jordan Albert, becoming one of a few front runners who couldn’t hold onto their third place thanks to various incidents. Despite this, he again fought back to sixth.
The third race saw Mealin become the first double winner of the season. He had started third and kept the position behind his two team mates at the start of the race. He soon proved he was the man on the move as he first overtook Jack Bartholomew and caught Fonseca rapidly. The two built up a comanding lead, but it was soon broken down thanks to a late safety car.
On the final lap, Mealin took the initiative and the lead into the Deene Hairpin, going on to take the victory. “It is an unbelievable feeling, I was selecting points throughout the race that would be best to try and overtake, but Rodrigo seemed to have the pace going into the corners.” said the championship leader.
Mealin admitted that he was feeling the pressure towards the end. “Time was running out so it was all on that one move and I knew I had to get as close as I could. Once I went for it, there was no going back, and luckily I judged it to perfection.” He now has 190 points after six races from two rounds.
The race was also most notably the first BRDC F4 race to be shown, live on Television after being covered on Motors TV.
