Graham Takes Second F4 Win As SWR Celebrates Triple Silverstone Podium
SWR celebrated a jubilant homecoming to Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 17th/18th August, by claiming a podium finish in each of the events three BRDC Formula 4 Championship racesincluding a second victory in as many race meetings for Matty Graham.Grahams peerless lights-to-flag win from pole position in round 16 on Saturday, added to second place in Sundays 18th round, enabled the County Durham teenager to rocket from seventh in the driver standings into the top four. His podium tally for the year now stands at five, four of which having been secured over the course of the last five races.To come away from Silverstone with two podiums, one win and a second place, is unbelievable really, said the 17-year-old, We had a pretty tough time mid-season but things are starting to turn around now which is good. The goal now is to finish the year in the championship top three.Team-mate Jack Barlow, who rounded out the sixth event of the F4 season third in the title chase, also enjoyed a very strong outing at the 3.66-mile Northamptonshire venue and made his fourth visit of the season to the rostrum in round 17 with the runner-up spot. Book-ending the result with a pair of fourth places, the Hastings driver is now just five points shy of second in the standings.In qualifying on Saturday morning, Graham was inspired and secured his second pole position of the year with a time of 2m05.658 seconds (104.87mph). Early session pace-setter Barlow ended the run with the fourth quickest time while Chinese team-mate Zou Sirui qualified 16th fastest.Light drizzle ahead of the weekends opening encounter blew away in time for the start of round 16 and when the lights went out, Graham made an excellent getaway from pole to lead before opening a massive 1.7 second margin on the first lap. Controlling the race thereafter, from mid-distance the SWR rookie pulled further and further clear to win by over four seconds.Barlow got away well from the second row of the grid to hold fourth early on but after challenging third-placed Jake Hughes, he slipped to fifth on lap two in the midst of a tightly bunched pack. Then elbowed down to sixth on lap four, Barlow mounted a good recovery to claim fifth on the eighth tour before being elevated to fourth post-race when Seb Morris received a time penalty.Sirui put together an impressive first lap to conclude the first 3.66 miles of racing in 14th position and he remained there until lap four when he climbed into 13th place. Although slipping back to 14th on lap five, the Chinese driver continued to battle hard and regained 13th on the seventh tour before slipping to 14th on the last lap. Unfortunately, Sirui was later excluded for yellow flag infringements.Fourth podium helps Barlow to third in standingsIn round 17, Barlow made a good start from fifth on the grid and after latching on to the two cars ahead he produced an outstanding move at Village to slice past both as they battled. Holding third place on the exit, Barlow managed to retain the position down Wellington Straight despite some robust wheel-to-wheel action and he went on to take second with a great pass at Stowe on lap four.Graham, starting the race in eighth position, climbed into seventh on the first lap and then moved into the top six on lap two. Pressuring Morris for fifth soon after, he made his move at The Loop on the fourth tour but the pair tangled and Graham slipped to seventh place. Taking sixth back a couple of laps later, the County Durham youngster then moved into fifth on lap seven.Beginning race two from the back row of the grid in 18th position, Sirui held position over the course of the opening lap before moving into 17th place on the second tour. Thereafter, it was a relatively sedate and lonely race for the Guangzhou-based driver as he remained in 17th position throughout.For the final race, Graham lined-up on the front rowby virtue of having set the second fastest race lap of the weekend up to that pointand made a sensational getaway to surge into the lead on the run through Copse. Under pressure from series leader Hughes, Graham held on well but had to give best on lap three at Brooklands. Holding second to the end, he finished 7.5 seconds clear of third.Like his team-mate, Barlow made a great start to climb from fifth into the top four which triggered a see-saw battle with Charlie Robertson. After swapping positions during the early running, Barlow made fourth his own on lap four and saw off Robertsons race-long attentions while also piling on the pressure to third placed Morris. The SWR driver only missed the podium by a mere 0.5 seconds.Sirui got away well initially, and immediately gained a place at the expense of the stalled Daniel Headlam, but contact early on spoiled his hopes of progressing into the top 15 so he had to settle for a lonely 16th place finish.Its been an amazing weekend, said overjoyed team owner Sean Walkinshaw, Matty showed great pace in practice, stormed to pole for the first race and then took his second win of the season which was fantastic. He was strong all weekend and to get another podium in race three was great.Jack did a fantastic job too, he was unlucky not to make it a couple of podiums but second in race two was really good and he scored heavily to close right up on second place in the championship. Zou made some improvements this weekend and, importantly, finished all three races. It really has been another fantastic weekend for SWR.There are just three weeks to wait for the penultimate event of the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 Championship season with rounds 19, 20 and 21 taking place at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk over the weekend 7th/8th September. In the meantime, television highlights of the Silverstone races will be screened at 18.00 next Sunday, 25th August, on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.2013 Provisional BRDC Formula 4 Championship Driver Standings (after Rd18):3rd Jack Barlow, 300pts; 4th Matty Graham, 275pts; Zou SiruiDoes Not Score