Fionn McLaughlin closed the gap to Martin Molnár at the top of the standings in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA after charging to victory in the opening race of the weekend at Oulton Park.
The Hitech TGR driver made a lightning start from the outside of the front row to jump Molnár (Virtuosi Racing) on lap one; and once out front, he capably controlled the race on his way to a second win of the season.
Victory for the Red Bull Junior driver now means that McLaughlin heads into Sunday’s two remaining races around the picturesque Cheshire venue trailing Molnár by just four points.
Following a frenetic Friday of practice, qualifying on Saturday morning saw championship leader Molnár come flying out of the blocks as he powered his way to his first C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award.
Setting a best time of 1:20.08 around the 2.223-mile Island layout – a new British F4 record – the Hungarian topped the timesheets midway through the session and was ultimately never toppled. Pole position was then guaranteed when the heavens opened with a few minutes remaining.
McLaughlin emerged as the closest challenger to Molnár in second, whilst Chase Fernandez (Xcel Motorsport), Ary Bansal (Fortec Motorsport) and Thomas Bearman (Hitech TGR) completed the top five.
Race one would see action play out as soon as the lights turned green, as a number of sluggish starts caused a chain reaction through the field, resulting in a handful of cars making contact and the red flags being waved.
When the dust settled, the quintet of Fernandez, Bearman, August Raber (Argenti Motorsport), Theo Palmer (Xcel Motorsport) and Rowan Campbell-Pilling (JHR Developments) had all sustained race-ending damage.
On the restart, Rookie Cup front-runner McLaughlin and Molnár made equal starts, but the Irishman soon edged his way into the lead, one that he would ultimately never relinquish.
Although McLaughlin had broken clear of his championship rival, the distance between the pair ebbed and flowed between half and one second as the race wore on – although it never really got closer than that, as they continuously traded the fastest lap of the race. It was McLaughlin that secured an additional and crucial championship point with that fastest lap of the race.
As McLaughlin and Molnár swept their way to the top two spots on the podium, Joslyn bounced back from a slow start to clinch third place, whilst Challenge Cup leader Tommy Harfield (Chris Dittmann Racing) got the better of Bansal to snare fourth place.
Further back, Leo Robinson (Hitech TGR) enjoyed a relatively trouble-free drive to finish in sixth ahead of Ethan Jeff-Hall (Argenti Motorsport), Ella Lloyd (Rodin Motorsport), Yuhao Fu (Xcel Motorsport) and Cole Hewetson (Xcel Motorsport).
Races two and three of the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA at Oulton Park are scheduled to take place at 13:05 and 16:05 respectively on Sunday, with both races forming part of ITV4 and ITVX’s free-to-air coverage that commences at 11:35 BST.
Both contests will also be broadcast live on the official British F4 YouTube channel for those watching outside the UK.
Click here for all the links you’ll need for the remainder of the weekend – including coverage on our social media channels, live timing, commentary from the circuit, results & standings, race reports, podcast and post-race interviews.
