In what was a delayed race due to an opening accident involving double race winner James Hedley, it was JHR Developments’ Joseph Loake that took a sensational victory in his debut single seater weekend ahead of rookie team mate Mckenzy Creswell, with Fortec Motorsport’s Hedley once again showing his prowess with a third place and sweep of podiums this weekend.
JHR Developments found theirselves at the sharp end of the grid once again after taking the drivers second fastest time from yesterday’s qualifying session, with Matthew Rees on pole position ahead of team mate Joseph Loake.
As the lights went out it was Loake that took an early lead ahead of Mckenzy Cresswell and Rees, with Abbi Pulling holding the JHR lockout at the front. Dougie Bolger was quick to make moves however, and passed Pulling for fourth later in the opening lap.
But as the field approached the final chicane at the end of lap one, a big accident that would bring out the red flag involving the Carlin drivers of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Kai Askey, with Matias Zagazeta and race one and two winner James Hedley also caught in the melee.
As the clean up operation was in effect, it was Joseph Loake that leads his team mate Mckenzy Cresswell ahead of Carlin’s Dougie Bolger and Abbi Pulling, with Matthew Rees rounding off the top five. But due to red flag rules, the race would restart from the original grid places, meaning Rees had a chance to redeem himself from the pole position once more.
Due to TV scheduling and track curfew times, the remainder of the British F4 race was postponed until after the resumption of the final BTCC race of the day.
When the restarted race did get back underway it was Cresswell and Loake that jumped Rees once again with Abbi Pulling moving up to third on the now wet circuit. The race was now reduced to 15 minutes as the spray began to rise in the treacherous conditions.
Roman Bilinski made contact with Fortec’s Joel Granfors at the final chicane but both managed to continue, albeit down in twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Meanwhile up front Joseph Loake was fending off team mate Cresswell as the four JHR Development drivers were waltzing away from the field.
However, Dougie Bolger was now the fastest driver on the track for Carlin, and began giving chase to Abbi Pulling in fourth place. The Japanese rookie really proving his worth on his debut single seater weekend.
Bolger managed to get past Pulling as the the Fortec racers of Oliver Gray and James Hedley piled on the pressure, with Hedley making it past both Gray and Pulling and once again showing promise after his brace of wins this weekend.
Pulling was now dropping like a stone, not looking happy in these conditions and now running down in ninth place after a promising start. Meanwhile James Hedley was now up to fourth place in what was putting the promising driver in the shop window for a full season drive at Fortec after only signing a part-time deal for 2021.
Hedley was now on the back of Matthew Rees for the final podium place, with the Welsh rookie holding off the double winner from this weekend to great effect, but was no match for Hedley’s superior driving in the wet conditions.
But as the chequered flag flew on a chaotic and disjointed third race, it was Joseph Loake that took the win ahead of rookie team mate Mckenzy Cresswell and James Hedley miraculously pulling off a fantastic podium after ending the first start of the race in the barriers on lap one. Oliver Gray finished fourth for Fortec, with Matthew Rees in fifth. Carlin team mates of Dougie Bolger and Roman Bilinski finished in sixth and seventh respectively, with Joel Granfors recovering to eighth after an early spin, and Kai Askey and Tasanpol Inthraphuvasak in ninth and tenth.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Loake | JHR Developments | 11 Laps |
| 2 | Mckenzy Cresswell (R) | JHR Developments | + 0.903 |
| 3 | James Hedley | Fortec Motorsport | + 6.514 |
| 4 | Oliver Gray (R) | Fortec Motorsport | + 7.555 |
| 5 | Matthew Rees (R) | JHR Developments | + 8.233 |
| 6 | Dougie Bolger (R) | Carlin | + 9.372 |
| 7 | Roman Bilinski | Carlin | + 9.566 |
| 8 | Joel Granfors | Fortec Motorsport | + 12.489 |
| 9 | Kai Askey (R) | Carlin | + 13.041 |
| 10 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Carlin | + 15.445 |
| 11 | Marcos Flack (R) | Argenti Motorsport | + 15.796 |
| 12 | Eduardo Coseteng (R) | Argenti Motorsport | + 17.981 |
| 13 | Abbi Pulling | JHR Developments | + 20.991 |
| 14 | Thomas Ikin (R) | Arden Motorsport | + 26.999 |
| 15 | Zak Taylor | Arden Motorsport | + 33.617 |
| 16 | Matias Zagazeta | Argenti Motorsport | + 5 Laps |
