Abbi Pulling (Rodin Motorsport) claimed the Race 2 victory at Brands Hatch today, making her the first female to win in the ROKiT British F4 Certified by the FIA Championship.
This morning’s reverse top 12 race saw Pulling lead off pole, alongside Xcel Motorsport’s August Raber. Jack Sherwood (Rodin Motorsport) and Leo Robinson (JHR Developments) lined up on the second row.
Pulling took the lead off the line only over Raber, only for the race to be neutralised by the safety car when Fortec Motorsport’s Kai Daryanani became stricken at turn one.
Racing resumed and it was Pulling who was followed by Rodin Motorsport teammate Jack Sherwood and Leo Robinson in third place. Throughout the course of the race, Abbi worked to pull away from the field and eventually crossed the line 5.5 seconds ahead of Sherwood with Robinson joining her on the podium. Pulling’s pace also secured her an extra point and the Motul Fastest Lap award. Due to a technical infringement Leo Robinson was later excluded from the results, promoting Xcel’s Zack Scoular to the third step of the podium.
Zack Scoular topped the Rookie Cup podium for the first time, with Xcel Motorsport teammate August Raber the second rookie home and Rowan Campbell-Pilling in third.
Race 3 saw pole sitter Deagen Fairclough (Hitech Pulse Eight) and Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) back on the front row of the grid for the second time this weekend, with this grid determined by the fastest laps in Saturday’s Qualifying session.
It was a strong start for Australian Ninovic, who got the better start from Fairclough off the line with Fairclough’s Hitech-Pulse Eight teammates Mika Abrahams and Reza Seewooruthun in third and fourth after lap one.
While the front of the field settled, it was clear a hotly contested battle was developing further back in the field, when with 15 minutes remaining, a pack formed with Jack Sherwood (Rodin Motorsport), Yuanpu Cui (Phinsys by Argenti) and Zack Scoular (Xcel Motorsport) all vying for sixth place. It was Cui, who managed to best that battle and additionally bring home the Rookie Cup win.
Back at the head of the field, in the last minutes of the race, Deagen Fairclough started to apply pressure to Alex Ninovic, time and again getting close on the final corner of each lap until on the penultimate lap, Ninovic went wide and Fairclough grabbed the lead, however a recovering Ninovic made contact and ended up in the gravel trap, with Fairclough then heading a Hitech Pulse-Eight podium clean sweep with Mika Abrahams and Reza Seewooruthun in second and third respectively. It was Fairclough’s second win of the weekend and third of the season.
Reza Seewooruthun secured an extra point for fastest lap in Race 3 and the Motul Fastest Lap Award.
Leo Robinson (JHR Developments) was awarded this weekend’s Pirelli Hardest Charger Award for the most overtakes across Races 1 and 3, making up a combined 11 places.
In the Drivers’ standings Deagen Fairclough leads from Rodin Motorsport’s duo of James Higgins and Alex Ninovic respectively, while Argenti’s Yuanpu Cui leads the Rookie’s Cup and Hitech Pulse-Eight are topping the Teams’ Cup after two events.
The next round of the ROKiT British F4 Championship will take place at Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit on 25-26 May with Sunday’s action due to be broadcast live on ITV4.
