Rodin Motorsport made it three wins from three races in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA, at Zandvoort as Ethan Lennon and Dries Van Langendonck shared Sunday’s spoils in the Netherlands.
Closing out yet another action-packed visit to the home of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, one of the most successful teams in the history of the UK’s premier single-seater series made its mark as Lennon and Van Langendonck kept their cool to triumph in style.
South African star Lennon struck first, securing his second win of the campaign in a absorbing reverse-grid encounter.
Starting on the front row alongside pole-sitter Mate Kobakhidze (Xcel Motorsport), Lennon made a perfect start to grab the lead, while Kobakhidze had to contend with the equally fast-starting Chris Dittmann Racing machine of Tommy Harfield.
Hounding the Georgian over the course of the opening lap, things unfortunately came to a head on lap two as Harfield’s attempted overtake at the infamous Turn 3 banking resulted in contact between the pair, forcing Kobakhidze into retirement.
With his stricken machine needing to be recovered, the Safety Car made the first of two appearances. Following its initial intervention, shortly after racing resumed it was again deployed to recover the stricken Fortec machine of Roman Felber, however, that provided just enough time for George Proudford-Nalder (Virtuosi Racing) to move up to third.
Following the second Safety Car period, the scene was set for a one-lap battle to the finish, however it proved to be one of attrition as Proudford-Nalder dived down the inside of Alba Larsen (Chris Dittmann Racing) to snatch second place into Turn 1 before setting off in pursuit of Lennon.
Despite closing onto the gearbox of the Rodin Motorsport teenager on this last lap, Proudford-Nalder had to settle for second place as Lennon triumphed, also clinching the Lotus Fastest Lap. Behind, Larsen held on to clinch a career-best third-place finish in British Formula 4.
Elsewhere, Cameron Nelson (JHR Developments) recorded his best finish to date in fourth while also scooping Rookie Cup honours. The Welsh racer narrowly pipped Red Bull Junior Scott Kin Lindblom and his Hitech team-mate Theo Palmer.
Completing the top ten were Jarrett Clark (Virtuosi Racing), the recovering Harfield, championship leader Van Langendonck and Adam Al Azhari (Hitech).
Later in the day, Belgium-born Van Langendonck went on to strengthen his advantage at the summit of the Drivers’ Championship, with a measured lights-to-flag victory ahead of Kin Lindblom and Palmer in Race 3, the weekend’s feature race.
The race was hamstrung with two safety car periods caused by incidents further down the field, however, Van Langendonck never looked likely to be displaced at the front.
Controlling the pace whenever racing resumed, Van Langendonck cruised to his fourth win of the season and also claimed the bonus point for the Lotus Fastest Lap, as well as Rookie Cup honours, to cap another scintillating weekend performance. Kin Lindblom and Palmer added to their own podium tallies, propelling Hitech to the top of the Teams’ Cup standings.
Nelson capped off his strongest showing of the season with a second successive fourth-place finish, while Proudford-Nalder, Lennon, Jaber Alsabah (Xcel Motorsport), Harfield, Ethan Jeff-Hall (Argenti Motorsport) and Ethan Carney (Fortec Motorsports) rounded out the top ten.
Heading back to British shores, Van Langendonck now holds a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Championship and the Rookie Cup.
Next up for the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA, is a visit to the fastest circuit in the country, Thruxton, for Rounds 16, 17 and 18 on 25-26 July.