F4 British ChampionshipOpen Wheel

Alex Dunne wins season opener race at Donington Park in British F4 championship

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Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Alex Dunne claimed victory for Hitech GP in the opening round of the ROKiT British F4 championship, closely followed by Oliver Gray in second and Ugo Ugochukwu in third. 

Ugochukwu claimed pole position on his single seater debut with Dunne joining him at the front of the grid in second.

The race began with the drivers getting a great start but on the opening lap, Dunne managed to get past Ugochukwu and take the lead. 

Ugochukwu’s teammate, Oliver Gray was able to slide past the Carlin driver too into second place. The battle for second place was very close throughout the race but Gray was the one who managed to claim it in the end. 

“I’m pleased. [We’re] lacking a little bit of pace in comparison to the Hitech tech boys it seems like,” said Gray.

“A good start from P4 enabled me to get into P2 around the outside of turn one. Then I just managed the tyres from there and just about managed to keep Ugo behind me at the end.”

Ugochukwu said, “It was a quite difficult race because we didn’t get the best getaway at the beginning, so we lost two positions,

“But then I just tried to close up on Ollie. I got close a couple of times, but never ever was able to make the move, and I think Hitech were a bit ahead today.”

“I think we had some quite a bit of graining on the tyres, which I think cost us a bit of pace. But we’ll look into it and try to do better tomorrow.”

Dunne’s victory at Donington was Hitech GP’s maiden victory in the British FIA Formula 4 series at the first attempt. 

Dunne Commented, “It was a really, really great race. I think it was really important to focus on the starts, because they’re so important, and I managed to make a good start, managed to get past Ugo into turn one, and from then on, and it was kind of just about controlling the pace, controlling the tyres, making sure I was looking after anything and just focusing on getting my head down and trying to make a gap.

“Going into the Old Hairpin I saw that Ollie [Gray] was quite close behind me, so I had to defend a little bit. But coming out of the corner, I saw that a gap had opened up, so I just got my head down and focused on driving away.”

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I am currently studying a Sports Journalism degree at Sunderland University, aiming to become a full time Sports Journalist. My main interests are F1 and WRC. I cover ROKiT British Formula 4 for The Checkered Flag.
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