F4 British Championship

Piastri Picks up Pole After Second British F4 Test Day

1 Mins read

It was a TRS Arden driver who topped the time sheets at the end of the Brands Hatch Indy test. Oscar Piastri leads the F4 British Championship contingent after another impressive afternoon.

A flurry of fast laps towards the end of the morning shook up the order, with many drivers who had chosen to back off and put in long running pace, switching their focus.

This concluded with Jamie Caroline moving to the top after a late morning run. The 2015 Ginetta Junior Champion had leaped into the Carlin machine late on, pushing the new Arden rookie Yves Baltas down to second overall.

It was another Arden driver who followed him home, with Piastri continuing to prove himself as one of the quickest drivers of the pre-season. The Australian would only improve in the afternoon, becoming the fastest driver all day.

While he won’t go into the season as a rookie, these results will put him in good stead for an early championship run as Arden continue to look for their first drivers title. In the end it was Caroline who got closest, only 0.05 seconds off the pace.

One of the surprising times of the day came from Oliver York. The double British MSA Kart champion made large strides during his Fortec Motorsport debut, even topping the times for much of the morning. He finished third in the overall standings.

After spending the first test at Oulton Park as the man to beat, it was a bump back down to earth for Logan Sargeant who failed to make a major impact in fourth, ahead of Ayrton Simmons.

Behind them, Patrik Pasma and Linus Lundqvist completed the breakaway top seven. The result once again proved that it could be another Carlin vs Arden season, though there is a long way to go before the opening round.

Two further Arden’s were 0.23 seconds behind with Baltas dropping in the afternoon, despite finishing the morning in second. Meanwhile Olli Caldwell found himself in the gravel during the AM session.

Elsewhere, Harry Webb became the first driver to drop below the 50 second mark, but was eighth after the morning session, finishing tenth overall in his Richardson Racing machine.

The list was completed by the newly signed Karl Massaad, Cup challenger Lucca Allen, Jamie Sharp and Lucas Alecco Roy. While the unsigned Zhou Cao and Matthew Hoggard completed the running.

Credit: Nick Smith / TheImageTeam.com
1347 posts

About author
Single-Seater Specialist who worked for TCF from 2015-19. Come finding me wandering the paddock.
Articles
Related posts
F4 British Championship

Carlin dominant as Louis Sharp draws first blood

2 Mins read
Rodin Carlin were resounding leaders in the opening race of the 2023 ROKiT British F4 Championship.
F4 British Championship

Aiden Neate, Noah Lisle, and Sonny Smith complete British F4 grid

1 Mins read
Three more drivers have been added to the British F4 grid for a record-breaking 21 entries.
F4 British Championship

Gabriel Stilp finalises deal to compete in British F4 with Hitech

1 Mins read
2-time Junior X30 World Champion, Gabriel Stilp, has finalised a deal to compete with Hitech in the ROKiT F4 British Championship.