As we reach the half-way stage in the 2020 British F4 Championship, it’s championship leader Luke Browning that arrives in Knockhill after a dominant weekend at Oulton Park last time out, and he was looking for the perfect start to the weekend after showing strong pace during the weekday test sessions on the short and fast Scottish rollercoaster-like circuit.
As the light went green at the end of the pit lane to signal the start of the session, it was Browning that took to the track first followed by his team mates of Faria and Villagomez.
And it was Browning that set the very early benchmark of 52.910 to lead a Fortec Motorsport 1-2-3 ahead of team mates Roberto Faria and returning rookie Rafael Villagomez, who was racing French F4 last weekend during the Oulton Park weekend.
Yesterday’s fastest driver in practice, James Hedley went fastest and began swapping top times with Browning after the two have shown superior pace during the weekday test sessions and the Friday sessions yesterday. Meanwhile, Faria went for a minor excursion but collected the car and was able to continue.
With 15 minutes to go, it was Browning that was the first to set a sub 50-second lap, topping the timesheets with a 49.903, with JHR Developments’ Hedley just 0.076 behind. Meanwhile further down the field, championship challenger Zak O’Sullivan will be looking to regain some momentum after a disappointing Oulton Park round last weekend, currently sitting in fifth place on a 50.281.
Casper Stevenson was the next driver tho drop below 50 seconds, with the Argenti Motorsport driver setting a 49.797, sitting just behind Browning and Hedley in third place. Browning was further lowering the bar, setting a 49.416 and inching away from Hedley and the rest of the field with just 10 minutes to go.
Alex Connor was up to second place, the Arden Motorsport man setting a 49.512 to fall in behind Browning. The second season driver will be looking for some redemption this weekend after contact with Browning on the final lap of race two whilst battling for the lead.
Roman Bilinski brought the red flag out with five minutes to go after spearing off the track and bouncing dramatically at Clark curve, causing some damage to the front end of the Arden car. With the track being cleared, it was Browning that was leading with the fastest time of 49.330, followed by Alex Connor, Casper Stevenson, Zak O’Sullivan and James Hedley in fifth place.
The drivers came back out on track with just three minutes remaining as the session restarted, but a lack of warm up time means the times couldn’t be improved upon, and it was Fortec’s Luke Browning that claimed pole position ahead of Alex Connor and Casper Stevenson in third place. Early weekend promise James Hedley was down in fifth place, just 0.416 behind Browning’s pole time.
Qualifying Classification:
| 1 | Luke Browning | Fortec Motorsport | 49.330 |
| 2 | Alex Connor | Arden Motorsport | 49.512 |
| 3 | Casper Stevenson | Argenti Motorsport | 49.574 |
| 4 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 49.694 |
| 5 | James Hedley | JHR Developments | 49.746 |
| 6 | Roberto Faria | Fortec Motorsport | 49.819 |
| 7 | Abbi Pulling | JHR Developments | 49.901 |
| 8 | Rafael Villagomez | Fortec Motorsport | 49.998 |
| 9 | Roman Bilinski | Arden Motorsport | 50.114 |
| 10 | Nico Pino | Argenti Motorsport | 50.183 |
| 11 | Christian Mansell | Carlin | 50.231 |
| 12 | Frederick Lubin | Arden Motorsport | 50.341 |
| 13 | Nathanael Hodgkiss | JHR Developments | 50.413 |
| 14 | Mathias Zagazeta | Carlin | 50.505 |
| 15 | Reema Juffali | Argenti Motorsport | 50.589 |
