The F4 British Championship headed to Silverstone National Circuit on the 15-16 September, as the season reaches the business end of the championship.
Patrik Pasma headed the Arden quartet in Qualfiying, setting the 3rd fastest time, just ahead of Red Bull Junior Jack Doohan in 4th. Dennis Hauger in the other Red Bull Junior car set the 8th fastest time, just one place ahead of Sebastien Priaulx in 9th.
When second fastest times were accounted for in order to set the grid for Race 3, Pasma would start 4th on the grid, Doohan would start from 5th, Hauger from 7th and Priaulx 10th on the grid.
Race One saw all driver’s get away well, with Hauger making great process to vault from 8th to 4th in the early laps. This set up a fantastic battle between the two Red Bull Juniors for the final podium spot – where Doohan just managed to pip Hauger to 3rd at the chequered flag, taking the Rookie Victory as well in the process.
Pasma followed in just behind in 5th place after a solid race around the National Circuit to bag more points for the team. Priaulx rounded out the Arden four in the opening race, finishing 9th to secure a full score for the team.
The partially reversed second race of the weekend once again saw Hauger make a lightning start, drawing alongside pole-sitter Ayrton Simmons into Becketts as the pair ran side-by-side. Their battle however allowed Doohan and Pasma to pass the pair of them up the inside to assume 1st and 2nd on the road after the opening exchanges – just before the Safety Car was deployed for an incident further back at Copse.
Doohan managed the restart well, assuming the lead immediately to build a gap on his rivals which he would hold to the chequered flag, taking his 3rd overall victory of the season and another Rookie Victory in the process. Pasma held on to complete an Arden 1-2.
Hauger was involved in a race-long battle with the heavily defending Simmons. The Norwegian driver did everything he could to try and pass, however Simmons backing the pair up so much resulted in Double R Racing’s Kiern Jewiss the chance to sweep past the pair of the them on the run to the chequered flag – meaning Hauger finished in 5th, with Priaulx rounding out the Arden finishers in 8th position.
In the final race of the weekend, Doohan made a great start to move up the inside of the battling Jewiss and Paavo Tonteri at Becketts to get himself into 2nd position early on.
The Aussie managed to latch onto the rear of race leader Johnathan Hoggard, piling the pressure on throughout the race.
As the two battled, it allowed Jewiss to catch the pair of them. Doohan let Jewiss through at Brooklands corner, whilst the top three ran nose-to-tail. As Hoggard continued to defend hard, Doohan was all over the rear of Jewiss, whilst Hauger managed to join in and make it a 4-car battle for the race lead in the closing stages!
On the final lap Hauger went for a move on Doohan, while Doohan went for a move on Jewiss – who likewise was attacking Hoggard! All four managed to come out unscathed, with Doohan taking 3rd, just 0.139s ahead of teammate Hauger at the finish.
Pasma battled hard throughout the closing stages of the race with the JHR Developments driver Manuel Sulaiman, just missing out at the end by three tenths of a second, finishing in 6th position.
Priaulx’s race was compromised after being hit into a spin by Tonteri at Brooklands on the opening lap – putting him to the back of the field. The Guernsey man however battled back to a points finish in 9th at the chequered flag.
The championship now heads into the season finale at Brands Hatch GP in two weeks’ time, on the 28-30 September for the final three races of the 2018 British F4 Championship.