Noah Lisle claimed victory in Sunday’s Thruxton early-afternoon reverse-grid Round 11 of the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA. The Rodin Carlin driver joins the ranks of double race winners alongside team-mates Louis Sharp and Dion Gowda.
The Australian started from fourth after a troubled qualifying session on Saturday, however it took just two corners to snatch the lead. From there it was relatively plain sailing until a safety car appearance with nine minutes remaining on the clock diminished his track advantage. The restart didn’t faze the car #2 racer who crossed the line over one second ahead of the rest after the final two laps of racing. Rookie Gustav Jonsson (Chris Dittmann Racing) took his first overall podium having started seventh. Steady gains in the opening two laps saw him move into third, passing Matteo De Palo (Phinsys by Argenti) on lap six for second place, which he held to the flag.
Dion Gowda took until the last lap to claim his podium slot. The Indian driver was eleventh on the grid, jumping to seventh in the opening lap, then up to fourth. Lap six saw him set the Motul Fastest Lap and claim a championship point before the safety car appeared. In the last lap, a challenge on Jack Sherwood (Chris Dittmann Racing) was successful for Gowda resulting in another trophy and a reduced margin of just three points to the top spot in the standings.
Jonsson’s overall second also netted him the top Rookie points, followed by Douwe Dedecker (Virtuosi Racing) and Josh Irfan (Rodin Carlin).
In Sunday afternoon’s Round 12, Will Macintyre became the third Hitech Pulse-Eight driver to record a 2023 win. From pole position he steadily built a gap after an initial strong challenge from team-mate Gabriel Stilp. Once the Norfolk-based driver had a margin he managed his race, ultimately crossing the line over five seconds ahead. Aiden Neate (Fortec Motorsport) finished second having started from third and biding his time to set up a move on Stilp and making it work with just 90 seconds of the race remaining. At that point Louis Sharp managed to find a way round Stilp to secure a podium and a critical two points that keep him at the top of the standings.
The championship is closer than ever after four events, with Louis Sharp leading by two points ahead of Will Macintyre who grabbed a 55 point haul at Thruxton.
Deagen Fairclough claimed the Motul Fastest Lap for the third time this season.
With a fourth place overall, Stilp took the win for the Rookie Cup, with Jonsson in second and Phinsys by Argenti’s Matteo De Palo in third. Gabriel Stilp earned 56 points in the Rookie Cup and now leads with Gustav Jonsson six points adrift.
Jack Sherwood was awarded this weekend’s Pirelli Hardest Charger Award having gained 12 positions in the course of Saturday’s race one and Sunday’s race three.
The ROKiT British F4 Championship now moves to Oulton Park in Cheshire for three more races on 17-18 June.
