Leo Robinson (JHR Developments) and Deagen Fairclough (Hitech Pulse-Eight) scored a win apiece on what proved to be a scintillating Sunday at Knockhill as the ROKiT British F4 Championship certified by FIA concluded its weekend in Scotland.
Basking in bright sunshine and taking centre stage in front of a bumper trackside crowd, Robinson emerged as the driver to beat in the reverse grid contest as he overhauled Ella Lloyd (JHR Developments) to claim a second win of the season.
With the top 12 being reversed, Lloyd lined up on pole position and after a solid start, she provided a resolute defence out front as the likes of Kai Daryanani (Fortec Motorsport) and Robinson attempted to find a way past.
Daryanani would make a number of lunges on Lloyd however it was Robinson that was the one to watch as he first dispatched Daryanani and then closed in on Lloyd. The decisive move came on lap nine as, after drawing alongside at Taylor’s Hairpin, he swept past his team-mate at turn one.
Robinson was wheel-perfect for the remainder of the contest to pull clear and win by more than five seconds while Lloyd, Yuanpu Cui (Phinsys by Argenti) – the Rookie Cup winner – Reza Seewooruthun (Hitech Pulse-Eight) and Deagen Fairclough completed the top five covered by a little over a second.
Championship leader Fairclough was one of the big movers of the race as he tallied valuable overtaking points as he charged from 12th on the grid up to sixth place; with a number of his moves proving successful at the final corner.
Rounding out the top ten was Bart Harrison (Chris Dittmann Racing), Abbi Pulling (Rodin Motorsport), the demoted Kai Daryanani, Jack Sherwood (Rodin Motorsport) and Martin Molnar (Virtuosi Racing).
Fairclough would make more headlines in the weekend’s final race as he produced a superlative display to clinch a ninth win of the year and with it, further extended his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
Starting from pole position, the series leader made a perfect start as the lights went out and immediately pulled clear of the chasing pack. Building up a substantial lead, Fairclough also picked up the Motul Fastest Lap Award of an additional championship point on his way to the top step of the podium.
Behind, Molnar managed to jump Rowan Campbell-Pilling (Phinsys by Argenti) off the line however Campbell-Pilling immediately retook the position on the run down to Taylor’s Hairpin.
From that point on, Campbell-Pilling and Molnar ran nose-to-tail to the finish until misfortune struck the Phinsys by Argenti driver as he was hit with a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, dropping him to fourth.
That penalty would elevate Molnar to second for his third podium of the year and second Rookie Cup win of the weekend while Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) – who failed to finish the day’s earlier race – made a welcome return to the rostrum in third.
Sherwood underlined his overtaking prowess by charging to fifth with Harrison, Pulling, Seewooruthun, Cui and Robinson completing the top ten.
Rodin Motorsport’s James Higgins was awarded this weekend’s Pirelli Hardest Charger Award for the most overtakes across Races 1 and 3, earning himself a set of Pirelli P-Zero tyres for testing.
Next on the calendar for the 2024 ROKiT British F4 Championship certified by FIA is a return to Donington Park – albeit this time on the Grand Prix circuit – for the eighth event of the season on August 24-25.
