Arden Motorsport continued their fine form by securing back-to-back overall podium results at Scotland’s Knockhill circuit last weekend [29-30 August].
Donington Park race winner Alex Connor added to his impressive podium tally, qualifying on the front row of the grid at the undulating Scottish circuit for the opening contest before consolidating second position and collecting a strong haul of points from race one.
The 16-year-old would then immediately progress in the second encounter, making up two positions from fifth on the grid to come home third and notch up a remarkable fifth podium finish in his 2020 campaign so far.
He would narrowly miss out on securing a hat trick of podiums at the Fife circuit in the final encounter, concluding the weekend in fourth to solidify his third position in the championship standings with another consistent result.
Roman Bilinski, who secured his maiden series podium last time out at Oulton Park, scythed through the field with a lightning start in race one to make up four positions en route to fifth position.
The Ginetta graduate then strengthened his points haul by progressing to seventh position in the final race of the weekend, leaving him ninth in the overall Drivers’ standings heading home from Scotland.
Rookie Frederick Lubin carried the momentum from a breakthrough weekend at Oulton Park – where he secured a brace of Rookie Cup victories in challenging conditions – to improve throughout the weekend on his first visit to the thrilling Scottish circuit.
The YRDA-backed racer placed just outside the top ten in the opening contest before going one better in the following race and breaking into the points with tenth
position.
The highlight of his weekend came in the finale as he was locked in a race-long battle for the Rookie Cup victory, narrowly missing out on his third category win after a valiant defensive drive, but scoring valuable points to strengthen his second position in the class standings as a result.
Arden’s Red Arrows now face a three week break from British F4 action before heading to Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit on the weekend of 19-20 September.
Gary Ward, Arden British F4 Team Manager:
“It’s been a really busy start to the delayed 2020 season for everyone at Arden Motorsport so to come away with the success we’ve had as a team is really important.
“All three drivers have been really impressive in their own right, so we’re really proud of their performances and know they’ll keep getting better throughout the season.
“We’ve got a bit of a break now before we head to Thruxton, which is a really high-speed circuit that we know the drivers will love. We were successful there last year so we’re excited to see what we can do this time around.”
Alex Connor (#27):
“It was great to bounce back from Oulton Park with a double podium at Knockhill. It’s another difficult circuit to overtake at so to come away with solid points for the championship is the main thing.
“It’s been an intense start to our season and we’ve had great pace but some bad luck along the way.
“We’ll be looking to build on our championship position next time out at Thruxton and hopefully get back on the top step.”
Roman Bilinski (#55):
“It was a big ‘if only’ this weekend so the good parts weren’t as impressive.
“My pace wasn’t what it could have been, my starts apart from one were all mega but clearly there’s some work to do.
“It’ll be really interesting to see what we can do at Thruxton, hopefully we’ll put in some good times as it’s a fast track.”
Frederick Lubin (#78):
“I struggled a fair bit at Knockhill, more so than other tracks we’ve visited so far. Annoyingly I didn’t get on top of qualifying which then put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
“I tried to fight through but it only worked for race three but that’s motorsport, we had a good battle in the final race and just missed out on another Rookie Cup win.
“I’m aiming to bounce back for our next round at Thruxton.”