F4 British Championship

Zak O’Sullivan takes race three victory at Brands Hatch to extend championship lead

2 Mins read
Credit: Jakob Ebery Photography

After a very hectic Saturday at Brands Hatch with two exciting races in blistering conditions, the British F4 circus returned for round six on Sunday, with championship leader Zak O’Sullivan looking to extend his title lead of early pretenders Luke Browning and Alex Connor.

O’Sullivan lead away from pole position and was leading after the end of lap one, with Browning and Connor rounding off the podium. Roman Bilinski was the highest mover, up to fifth place and having a great race for Arden Motorsport, fending off Casper Stevenson and yesterday’s podium sitter, Abbi Pulling.

At the five minute stage, Browning was now setting the fastest laps in second place in pursuit of race one winner O’Sullivan, sitting just six tenths behind the Carlin championship leader.

Further down the field, yesterday’s race two winner Christian Mansell was running in eighth place and leading the rookie cup, chasing JHR Developments‘ Abbi Pulling. Mathias Zagazeta was also at logger heads with Fortec Motorsport‘s Rafael Villagomez, until the Mexican made a pass at Graham Hill bend on the Peruvian Carlin rookie to move up to eleventh place.

James Hedley was fighting through the field after a tough weekend for the Ginetta Junior champion, currently running in twelfth place. He would later get embroiled in a tense fight with Villagomez, hanging the car on the outside of Paddock Hill bend and on the run up to Druids, but to no avail.

Up front, Luke Browning was applying more pressure on the championship leader O’Sullivan in search of his first win of the season for the Fortec Motorsport man. The gap was less that two tenths with just under seven minutes remaining, and this was also bringing Alex Connor into the fight for the lead.

Nathanael Hodgkiss was making some progress through the field, passing Frederick Lubin for ninth place, which would give him two championship points, as James Hedley also passed Lubin for the final points position.

And with just over a minute remaining, the top three of O’Sullivan, Browning and Connor were separated by just over a second, with Roberto Faria down in a distant fourth. Abbi Pulling had a spin on the final lap to fall back to fourteenth place to leave a small blemish on an otherwise very successful weekend.

But as the chequered flag flew as the time ran down, it was Zak O’Sullivan who took his third win of the season and increase his championship advantage furthermore over Luke Browning and Alex Connor, as it’s now becoming a three horse race for championship honours after the early stages of the race.

Race 3 Classification:

1Zak O’SullivanCarlin14 Laps
2Luke BrowningFortec Motorsport+ 0.353
3Alex ConnorArden Motorsport+ 0.894
4Roberto FariaFortec Motorsport+ 7.729
5Roman BilinskiArden Motorsport+ 9.432
6Casper StevensonArgenti Motorsport+ 9.843
7Christian MansellCarlin+ 11.959
8James HedleyJHR Developments+ 16.070
9Nathanael HodgkissJHR Developments+ 17.770
10Frederick LubinArden Motorsport+ 18.158
11Mathias ZagazetaCarlin+ 18.519
12Reema JuffaliArgenti Motorsport+ 25.028
13Rafael VillagomezFortec Motorsport+ 25.536
14Abbi PullingJHR Developments+ 42.233
15Nico PinoArgenti MotorsportDNF
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British Formula 4 correspondent and occasional F1 reporter for The Checkered Flag.
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