Theo Palmer became the ninth different winner of the season in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA after producing a wheel-perfect performance in a shortened opening contest at Thruxton.
Showcasing complete composure as soon as the lights went out, the Hitech driver held off a charging Joseph Smith (Virtuosi Racing) to claim his first-ever win in the UK’s premier single-seater series, while George Proudford-Nalder (Virtuosi Racing) completed the podium in third.
While Palmer revelled in the glory of clinching a maiden victory, a number of drivers endured their fair share of travails – one of which being championship leader Dries Van Langendonck (Rodin Motorsport) who failed to score after getting caught up in an incident at mid-distance.
Before racing got underway around the high-speed Hampshire venue, Britain’s Formula 4 category delivered one of the closest ever qualifying sessions in recent memory, as Jaber Alsabah (Xcel Motorsport) swept his way to a first CADOLA Pole Position Award.
It wasn’t until the final three minutes of the session that Alsabah came to the fore as he pipped Lewis Wherrell (JHR Developments) to top spot by just 0.007s become the fifth different pole sitter in six events. In fact, small margins continued throughout the field, with the lead seven in particular blanketed by less than a tenth of a second, 19 of 30 drivers within 0.5 second of pole with 29 less than a second off the pole time.
Second fastest lap times from qualifying determined the starting order for race one and, that placed Palmer at the head of the field, while McLaren Development Driver Van Langendonck and his papaya machine joined him on the front row.
When lights went out, contact further down the order between Timo Jüngling (JHR Developments) Sun Anzhe and Qarrar Firhand (Argenti Motorsport) caused an immediate red flag and it wasn’t until after the stoppage, Palmer was finally able to convert his front row start into the race lead as the lights went out.
Staving off the advances of Van Langendonck through the opening sequence of corners, it soon became clear that Smith was the driver to watch as he firstly dispatched Ethan Jeff-Hall (Argenti Motorsport) before then finding a way past Van Langendonck.
Setting off after Palmer, Smith – who also clinched the Lotus Fastest Lap Award – remained within striking distance of first place throughout the bout, but ultimately never got close enough to make a move; instead settling for second place.
After losing ground to Smith, Van Langendonck had no time to rest as he soon came under pressure for third from Mercedes F1 Junior Jeff-Hall, with the latter filling the mirrors of the Belgian at every opportunity he got.
Unfortunately, things would come to a head between the pair heading into Campbell, as the rear of Jeff-Hall’s machine snapped under braking, which in-turn sent him skating into the side of Van Langendonck. The resulting contact sent the points leader onto the grass and out of the race.
Jeff-Hall would go on to be classified third on the road, however officials later deemed that he was at fault for the incident with Van Langendonck, and he was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty dropping him to 12th.
His demise therefore promoted BRDC International Trophy winner Proudford-Nalder up to third, while Ethan Lennon (Rodin Motorsport) and Jarrett Clark (Virtuosi Racing) delivered measured drives to complete the top five.
Behind them and rounding out the top ten was Scott Kin Lindblom (Hitech), Rookie Cup winner Wherrell, Tommy Harfield (Chris Dittmann Racing), Sunday’s pole sitter Alsabah and Roman Felber (Fortec Motorsports).
The race ended prematurely due to an incident involving Adam Al Azhari (Hitech) around one of the fastest sections of the circuit. Thankfully, the driver from the United Arab Emirates walked away unhurt.
Palmer’s victory has now elevated him to second in the Drivers’ Championship, with the gap to Van Langendonck now sitting at 41.5 points.
Races two and three of the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA from Thruxton are scheduled to take place at 13:00 and 16:35, respectively on Sunday, with both races being aired live on ITV4 for the UK audience, while international viewers can watch the two encounters on the British F4 YouTube channel.