Ross Gunn converted pole position into a lights to flag victory in an action-packed Round 17 of the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship at Silverstone.
The Motionsport ace secured pole position for the race after finishing eighth in the weekend’s opening race, and the car-racing rookie made a good start to lead into Copse for the first time.
Raoul Hyman retained second off the line, while a first lap change for third saw Jack Barlow move around the outside of both Seb Morris and James Greenway at the Loop, with Greenway grabbing fourth from Morris on the run down the Wellington Straight.
While Gunn began to slowly extend his lead at the front, Hyman started coming under pressure from Barlow, with the Sean Walkinshaw Racing driver getting through on lap four. Behind meanwhile, slight contact between Morris and Matthew Graham in the battle for fifth sent them both wide at the Loop, with Graham slipping to seventh, and Morris to ninth.
Greenway forced his way into third at the start of lap five at Copse, with Hyman losing further ground to his HHC Motorsport team-mate Charlie Robertson later in the lap, with Hyman left leading what developed into a fantastic seven car battle for fifth.
At the front, Gunn was starting to drive into the distance, holding a 3.2 second lead by the end of lap seven. With Greenway holding a comfortable two second lead over Robertson in fourth, the privateer was able to focus on closing on Barlow ahead, with the fastest lap of the race helping him edge closer.
In the pack behind, a chaotic couple of laps saw plenty of overtaking moves change the order around. Jake Dalton was the main winner, the championship contender moving up from tenth to sixth on his charge through the field from 17th on the grid, while points leader Jake Hughes was the driver losing out most, slipping from sixth to ninth.
Gunn meanwhile was having no such dramas, comfortably taking his second win of the season by 4.6 seconds.
“That was a great race to be honest,” said Gunn. “Starting from pole I had a pretty good first few laps. I decided to start pushing mid-race and I managed to get a gap and was lapping very consistently and on the last few laps I saw I had a pretty good gap and was able to ease off slightly towards the end. The car was fantastic, I have no complaints and I’m really happy.”
With Greenway unable to mount a real challenge for second, Barlow had a comfortable run to the line, with Greenway settling for third, his first ever podium finish in the championship Robertson secured fourth ahead of Graham, with Dalton sixth after a stunning drive through the field.
Morris took seventh, while making some late progress into eighth was Struan Moore. Championship leader Hughes passed Hyman on the last lap for ninth, with the South African completing the top ten after falling back with a damaged floor.
MGR Motorsport pairing Diego Menchaca and Pietro Fittipaldi were next up, the latter having been in fighting in the top eight before slipping back late on, while fighting back superbly after his dramatic roll in race one was Gustavo Lima, the Brazilian working his way up from 19th to 13th.
2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship Round seventeen result:
1. Ross Gunn, Motionsport, 10 laps
2. James Greenway, Frank T Greenway Racing, +5.726s
3. Charlie Robertson, HHC Motorsport, +8.039s
4. Matthew Graham, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +10.409s
5. Jake Dalton, MGR Motorsport, +13.553s
6. Seb Morris, Hillspeed, +14.295s
7. Jack Barlow, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +14.615s
8. Struan Moore, Hillspeed, +17.030s
9. Jake Hughes, Lanan Racing, +18.277s
10. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, +19.784s
