F4 British Championship

Fielding Flies in Silverstone Spray to Claim Pole Position

1 Mins read
Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

An outstanding qualifying from the non-Carlin title competitors saw Sennan Fielding take pole position. The F4 British Championship race winner was behind Luis Leeds for most of the running, but a strong lap with five minutes to go saw him leap to the front, in mixed conditions around Silverstone.

Leeds took the initiative early on and was the man to beat as the pack approached the halfway point of the session. There was an issue though with the rain starting to fall heavier.

Similar to the first free practice session on Friday, the drivers were unable to drop below the one minute mark as the Australians ran first and second after an impressive lap from Zane Goddard. With nine minutes remaining, Leeds finally dropped below the 1:05 seconds mark, pitting soon afterwards.

Despite the light rain, times were still falling as a few surprise faces started to show their hand. Alternatively, championship competitors James Pull and Petru Florescu found themselves struggling towards the back. They would recover towards the end, but it wasn’t enough.

Leeds looked comfortable on top until a surprisingly quick lap from Fielding saw him usurp the TRS Arden front-runner. Fielding’s JHR Developments team-mate Billy Monger joined him at the head of the field, going third with a few minutes remaining.

As the flag dropped it was pole for Fielding, who will need a strong result if he wants to close the gap on leader Max Fewtrell. Leeds would ultimately join him on the front row with a time only 0.01 seconds behind.

Monger and Goddard completed the second row and will the game changers come race one. With neither competing for the championship, they’ll be simply hoping for a strong result knowing they have nothing to lose.

Two drivers who will have a lot to lose are Fewtrell and Devlin DeFrancesco. It’s been the worse qualifying of the year for the Carlin team as they struggled to make an impact.

In seventh overall was Jamie Caroline. The Ginetta Junior champion didn’t feature throughout the session and will be hoping to use one of his trademark lightning starts. He’ll line-up alongside Florescu, as Pull and practice master Rafa Martins, rounds out the top ten.

Credit: Nick Smith / TheImageTeam.com
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