In a wet qualifying session at Donington Park, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Deagen Fairclough has claimed his fifth C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award of the 2024 ROKiT British F4 certified by FIA season.
Fairclough’s lap put him on the pole by 0.77 tenths over Phinsys by Argenti driver Rowan Campbell-Pilling, establishing the same front row that was seen at the previous round in Scotland.
It was a season’s best qualifying effort for Ella Lloyd (JHR Developments) in third, with Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic in fourth and Yuanpu Cui (Phinsys by Argenti) rounding out the top five for the grid-defining session.
As the day wore on, the sun appeared, drying the track which saw all 18 drivers line up on slicks for the first of the weekend’s four races.
Fairclough having secured another double pole position, started next to Rowan Campbell-Pilling on the front row. Alex Ninovic and Yuanpu Cui made up row two, while Leo Robinson (JHR Developments) and Kai Daryanani (Fortec Motorsport) lined up on row three.
It was fast-starting Alex Ninovic who grabbed the lead following lights-out from Fairclough, however with an early safety car being called after JHR teammates, Chloe Chong and Ella Lloyd each found the gravel, the early advantage was neutralised.
When the race resumed, with just under 10 minutes left on the clock, Ninovic led the field with Fairclough, Campbell-Pilling and Robinson in tow.
Following a short red flag intervention and with five minutes of racing left on the clock, Alex Ninovic then re-established a gap of 1.7 seconds over Fairclough in second place. Leo Robinson secured another podium in his first ROKiT British F4 season to come home third, with Kai Daryanani in fourth.
Yuanpu Cui took top Rookie Cup honours, being joined by Zack Scoular (Xcel Motorsport) and Rowan Campbell-Pilling on the podium.
An additional race was scheduled for the weekend, with the re-running of Race Three from the season-opening previous visit to Donington Park.
The Rodin Motorsport pairing of Alex Ninovic and James Higgins lined up alongside each other on the front row, with Kai Daryanani and Deagen Fairclough in third and fourth respectively.
Ninovic maintained his pole advantage when the lights went out, leading his team-mate into turn one with the two drivers working together to quickly build a gap of 1.8 seconds back to third. It was Higgins who then took control of the race after Ninovic made an early error and dropped down the order to 14th.
After a brief Safety Car intervention, due to a beached Daryanani in the gravel at turn one, it was Higgins who was leading Fairclough, Sherwood and Robinson to the green flag.
Pressure was being applied to Sherwood as he defended the final spot on the podium from a battling Leo Robinson and Reza Seewooruthun (Hitech Pulse-Eight), however he ultimately managed to build a gap back up to secure third.
Fastest laps were being traded throughout the closing minutes of the raceas Deagen Fairclough was persistent in his endeavours to hunt down James Higgins. A relentless Fairclough did all he could to try and take the win, however James Higgins who held on to take the chequered flag and win his first race of the year, and become the championship’s ninth different 2024 race winner.
Jack Sherwood finished third, ahead of Leo Robinson, Reza Seewooruthun and Alex Berg (Fortec Motorsport) in sixth.
Yuanpu Cui picked up a second Rookie Cup win of the day, with Zack Scoular and Martin Molnar (Virtuosi Racing) rounding off that podium.
Deagen Fairclough earned an two extra championship points having set Motul Fastest Laps in both of the day’s races.
Races two and three of the ROKiT British F4 Championship at Donington Park GP layout are scheduled to take place at 10:40 and 14:50 on Sunday, with both races forming part of ITV4’s free to air coverage that commences at 1045 hours BST.
