F4 British Championship

Browning extends British F4 championship lead with lights-to-flag Silverstone race two victory

2 Mins read
Credit: Jakob Ebery Photography

After a difficult weekend in Thruxton last weekend for championship leader Luke Browning, the Fortec Motorsport man was looking to bounce back after getting reverse grid pole for race two at Silverstone today, and most importantly looking to extend his 51-point advantage over nearest rival Zak O’Sullivan.

Browning got away cleanly and led the opening lap ahead of Casper Stevenson, with race one winner Alex Connor dropping down the order to fourth after Zak O’Sullivan muscled his way past into third place. James Hedley also managed to challenge Connor with Roman Bilinski in tow, making it three wide into Brooklands, but most importantly with all three drivers remaining in position and unscathed after a close battle.

Meanwhile up front, leader Luke Browning was slowly edging away in the lead, pulling up to a six tenth lead on Stevenson as the Argenti Motorsport man was beginning to set fastest laps in chase of the championship leader.

Further down the field, Abbi Pulling was beginning to fight through the field after starting from the back from a misfortunate retirement in the first race, passing Mathias Zagazeta for ninth place.

Christian Mansell and Frederick Lubin were battling for rookie honours in seventh and eighth place, as they were both joined by Pulling with just under twelve minutes remaining.

Hedley was the next driver to set a fastest lap, as the JHR Developments’ youngster began to catch fourth placed Alex Connor for fourth place. Casper Stevenson was also beginning to reel in leader Browning, bringing the gap down to less than four tenths.

With just six minutes to go, the gaps were all beginning to concertina up. James Hedley finally got his target, passing Alex Connor through Luffield corner after several laps of chasing the race one winner for fourth place and began to chase down O’Sullivan for the final podium place.

A three way battle soon commenced for second place with Stevenson, O’Sullivan and Hedley, with the Carlin driver of O’Sullivan pushing into second place and Stevenson then losing out to Hedley and Connor, dropping back to fifth after a promising opening half of the race.

As we entered the final minute of the race, leader Luke Browning was coming up intense pressure from O’Sullivan and Hedley behind, but as the chequered flag flies it was championship leader Browning that held onto the win ahead of closest title rival Zak O’Sullivan and James Hedley in third.

Alex Connor managed to hold on to fourth after getting some pressure from Casper Stevenson in fifth, and Roman Bilinski finished in sixth, with Mansell holding on to the rookie win in seventh place. Abbi Pulling could only make it up to eighth after starting in eleventh, followed by Lubin, Juffali and Zagazeta in ninth, tenth and eleventh respectively.

Race 2 Classification:

1Luke BrowningFortec Motorsport21 Laps
2Zak O’SullivanCarlin+ 0.147
3James HedleyJHR Developments+ 0.440
4Alex ConnorArden Motorsport+ 0.768
5Casper StevensonArgenti Motorsport+ 0.995
6Roman BilinskiArden Motorsport+ 3.102
7Christian MansellCarlin+ 5.979
8Abbi PullingJHR Developments+ 6.079
9Frederick LubinArden Motorsport+ 8.465
10Reema JuffaliArgenti Motorsport+ 8.685
11Mathias ZagazetaCarlin+ 9.353

Avatar photo
118 posts

About author
British Formula 4 correspondent and occasional F1 reporter for The Checkered Flag.
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.