The ROKIT British F4 certified by FIA qualifying at Thruxton circuit was especially close today. A biggest-ever British F4 field of 23 cars was separated by just 0.840 seconds, however at the end of the session it was tight at the top with 0.014 seconds splitting the top four of Hitech Pulse-Eights’s Will Macintyre and Gabriel Stilp, Fortec Motorsport’s Aiden Neate in third and Jimmy Piszcyk, also Hitech in fourth. Neate held provisional pole for the bulk of the session, however as the clock was nearing time, was pipped first by Stilp, before Macintyre took pole at the very last moment.
Macintyre becomes the fourth different top qualifier in the 2023 season’s first four events and takes the Omologato Pole Position Award with the prize watch and two championship points. The 0.014 second difference between first and fourth position equates to just 69 centimetres on track. Standings leader Louis Sharp (Rodin Carlin) was fifth fastest. These times set the grid for race three tomorrow, race two reversing the full grid. Both races will be televised live on ITV4.
Today’s Round 10 grid was set by the second fastest times, Hitech Pulse-Eight this time locking out the front two rows with their four drivers. Jimmy Piszcyk securing P1 on the grid with rookie Gabriel Stilp alongside.
Piszcyk converted his pole to a win, taking the Motul Fastest lap Award in the process, adding an additional championship point to his tally. The Australian has moved up to seventh in the standings. Team-mate Macintyre moved from third to second on the first lap and pushed Piszcyk hard. His hope for victory was dashed with the appearance of the safety car while cars were retrieved following a lower-order incident. Macintyre remains third in the standings but is tied on points with Dion Gowda (Rodin Carlin) in second. Louis Sharp finished the race in third having gained two places on lap one and retains his lead in the championship. Gabriel Stilp was the highest Rookie taking an overall fifth place.
This is the Hitech Pulse-Eight team’s fifth consecutive Thruxton British F4 win following their 2022 successes with Oliver Stewart and Alex Dunne. The four team drivers all finished in the top -six.
