Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan leaves Snetterton with the narrowest lead in the British F4 Championship over Luke Browning after taking a second win of the weekend in race three ahead of Browning, with now just three drivers in the mathematical hunt as we head to Brands Hatch in November.
Title contenders O’Sullivan and Browning started on the front row, and it was the Carlin driver of O’Sullivan that leapt away on the opening lap with Luke Browning coming under pressure from Alex Connor as Rafael Villagomez retired with rear suspension damage, sadly racing his last race of the season in the UK as he doubles up his racing duties in the French F4 Championship.
Just outside the podium it was Casper Stevenson coming under pressure from James Hedley for fourth place as the top three began to sprint away and form a gap. Frederick Lubin was leading there rookie class and beginning to hold up there remainder of the field in sixth place, with Abbi Pulling hounding the young brit.
As we approached the half way stage, Luke Browning was beginning to crank up the pace in second place, setting the fastest lap in his pursuit of O’Sullivan’s lead which was now down to just a few car lengths as the top two were now in a race of their own.
At the back of the pack there was another exciting battle developing between rookie Mathias Zagazeta and Argenti Motorsport’s Reema Juffali, with these two drivers seemingly tied together by a piece of string for the majority of the season.
Stevenson and Connor assumed battle for the final podium place down the main straight with the Arden driver barging Stevenson off the track and allowing Hedley to take fourth place from the unsettled Argenti man. The race stewards likely to take a look at Connor’s driving there.
Abbi Pulling would eventually make it past Lubin for sixth place after a well thought out move on the top rookie into the Brundle chicane to get the switchback on the exit, and now allowing the JHR Developments driver to escape up the road.
James Hedley would provide the move of the race with three minutes remaining as he flew around the outside of Alex Connor at the Brundle chicane to snatch the final podium place away from the Arden Motorsport youngster.
But at the chequered flag it was Zak O’Sullivan that took a second win of the weekend ahead of Luke Browning to now tie the Fortec Motorsport driver at the top of the standings, and a championship showdown now awaits the pair at Brands Hatch next month. James Hedley came home in third after an impressive fight through the field ahead of Alex Connor and Casper Stevenson in fifth.
Race 3 Classification:
1 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | 11 Laps |
2 | Luke Browning | Fortec Motorsport | + 3.642 |
3 | James Hedley | JHR Developments | + 11.164 |
4 | Alex Connor | Arden Motorsport | + 13.094 |
5 | Casper Stevenson | Argenti Motorsport | + 13.425 |
6 | Abbi Pulling | JHR Developments | + 20.730 |
7 | Frederick Lubin | Arden Motorsport | + 21.805 |
8 | Reema Juffali | Argenti Motorsport | + 25.052 |
9 | Christian Mansell | Carlin | + 26.680 |
10 | Roman Bilinski | Arden Motorsport | + 27.021 |
11 | Mathias Zagazeta | Carlin | + 27.451 |
12 | Rafael Villagomez | Fortec Motorsport | DNF |