It was a good morning for the HHC Motorsport drivers as Will Palmer and Harri Newey topped the rain interrupted first two morning sessions at Silverstone for the BRDC F4 Championship. Meanwhile Al Faisal Al Zubair will sit out this round with a leg injury as Riki Christodoulou is entered as a guest driver as his replacement.
Palmer set the early pace as others struggled to match his pace. Akhil Rabrindra was the closest, but still 1.3 seconds off the pace. Palmer over the course of the session extended his lead meaning that when Ciaren Haggerty took over as the second fastest time, he was 2.5 seconds off Palmer’s time.
As the session went on, the times dropped as the track started to clear. This meant that with 10 minutes to go, Santiago Urrutia took second spot now just 0.4 seconds off Palmer’s time at the front. But despite this the Brit held on to be fastest with a 2:24.271, with Urrutia and Harri Newey behind.
The second session started with a delay as the continuing rain and hail, prevented the cars from going out. However; after the session got going the cars slowly fed onto the track with Rabrindra out first.
This was short lived as the first red flag appeared after only three minutes, as Urrutia spun off in the continuing downpour. The session was restarted with 30 minutes left, as Newey was the first driver to set a competitive time and remained fastest as the rest of the 16 drivers on track completed their first lap.
Newey continued to improve being the first driver under the 1minute 30 second mark for the session. While the HHC Motorsport drivers dominated at the head of the timing sheets, the other competitors found time as Christodoulou and then Palmer went top. Meanwhile Haggerty finally set his first lap going tenth with 18 minutes to go.
As it turned out, there would be little time for anyone else. Newey took the top spot again as the red flag came out for a second time. The session was stopped prematurely because of the continued delays, meaning Newey ended the session ahead of Palmer, Rabrindra and Christodoulou.
