Hitech GP’s Alex Dunne recovered well from a tricky qualifying performance to win the Pirelli Hardest Charger Award for the most recent ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA round at Croft.
The Hitech GP racer struggled for pace during the 20-minute shootout for pole, and a last-gasp effort elevated him to ninth for the opening race. Two early passes promoted him to seventh spot, before the promise of the partially reversed grid race to come, on which the Irishman would be second.
He duly delivered a seventh victory of the 2022 season after capitalising on a stall for pole-sitter Georgi Dimitrov, enjoying a clear run down to Clervaux and then checking out up front, his eventual winning margin some 4.2 seconds.
But last, and perhaps most impressive, was his charge through the order in a curtailed, then restarted, Race 3. From tenth spot, Dunne cut his way through the field to take the final podium spot in third, right behind Louis Sharp and race winner Ollie Gray, whom he now leads in the championship standings by 51 points.
As a result, his total of 9 positions gained – one more than Virtuosi Racing’s Michael Shin – wins Dunne the Pirelli Hardest Charger Award and with it a free set of tyres for testing. A winner will be chosen next at Knockhill on 29-31 July, and at each subsequent round of the championship.
