Jake Hughes has put himself in the perfect position to secure the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship this weekend after taking pole position for the opening race at Donington Park.
Hughes’ sixth pole position of the season has also made him the first prize winner of the weekend, the Lanan Racing driver securing the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup and with it a £1,000 prize fund.
The 19 year old has his sights on a bigger prize though, and he can wrap up the championship later today if he wins, and chief rivals Seb Morris and Jack Barlow finish outside the podium places.
Hughes didn’t have an easy run to pole in the condensed ten minute session however, with Matthew Graham trading provisional pole with him throughout. Hughes’ grabbed pole with a best time of 1m 30.795s though, just getting the time in before the session was red-flagged after a crash for Diego Menchaca.
“At the start of the year after getting pole position at Silverstone I thought we could maybe get a few poles, but I never thought we could get six, with four of those actually coming in qualifying sessions,” said Hughes. “The car has been brilliant all year and it’s only been me that has stopped me from getting other poles. A big thanks to the team for this and starting at the front always gives you the chance to get good results.”
Graham secured second, keeping his faint title hopes alive in the process, while Matt Mason put a rotten debut weekend last time out at Snetterton behind him to take third on the grid, the former Formula Renault BARC race-winner setting a best time just over half a second slower than the pole-sitter.
Morris went fourth fastest, just one hundredth of a second quicker than James Greenway, while outside bets for the title Charlie Robertson and Jake Dalton went sixth and seventh quickest respectively.
Menchaca held on to eighth despite his accident, while completing the top ten on the grid meanwhile are James Fletcher and Struan Moore. Barlow meanwhile has a tough task on his hands to maintain his title challenge, languishing down in thirteenth on the grid, three places ahead of series debutant Max Cornelius.
Full qualifying times can be found here: http://www.formula4.com/media/165243/dp_q_result.pdf
