Harri Newey, son of legendary F1 designer Adrian, took his maiden Duo BRDC Formula 4 success with victory in race one of the weekend (12/13 September) at Donington Park today (Saturday), as he held off his hard-charging HHC Motorsport team-mate Will Palmer. Ameya Vaidyanathan completed the podium in third with Ciaran Haggerty and Omar Ismail rounding out the top-five in an enthralling encounter in Leicestershire.

Owing to overnight rain, track conditions were mixed and slippery as the Duo BRDC Formula 4 cars took to the circuit for the 20 minute qualifying session in the morning. Despite drivers being in two minds throughout the morning, all 18 cars opted for Pirelli slicks when the pit lane opened.

In a frantic session, times continually tumbled as the track dried, with a number of drivers taking it in turns to claim provisional pole position. After Jack Lang had posted the fastest time, he was knocked off top spot by Tom Jackson before Ciaran Haggerty went quickest. Harri Newey then took provisional pole with a 1m31.962s lap, just 0.009s quicker than his rivals.

The action didn’t end there however and, in one of the most dramatic qualifying sessions of the year, Tom Jackson went quickest again with a 1m31.520s putting him 0.113s clear of his rivals. Both Newey and Palmer improved however and it was Newey on pole with just three minutes left. Both Jackson and Palmer couldn’t improve on their final laps so it was Newey that would line up at the head of the field for race one.

The 17-year-old made a good start as the lights went out and easily led into Redgate. However Palmer, who started alongside him in second, made a slower getaway and the Chris Dittmann Racing pairing of Tom Jackson and Omar Ismail slipped through. Palmer then ran wide on the exit of Redgate which enabled Ameya Vaidyanthan and Chris Mealin to advance, pushing the championship leader down to sixth.

At the Melbourne Hairpin on the first lap, Lanan Racing’s Rodrigo Fonseca attempted an overtake on Jack Lang but the pair made contact and both spun, dropping them down the order. Fonseca was excluded from the results after the race for the incident, having been deemed to have caused a collision. Two-time BRDC F4 race winner Mealin set his sights on fourth and he pulled off a great move around the outside of Vaidyanathan at Redgate on the second lap.

Will Palmer was soon mounting his comeback efforts and he relegated Vaidyanathan to sixth on the same lap as he slid down the inside of the Indian racer into the Esses. Ciaran Haggerty meanwhile was also progressing up the field and enjoyed a good opening couple of laps to lie seventh after lap two, up from his grid position of 10th.

Second placed Tom Jackson went off the circuit on lap three, benefitting those behind as he could only rejoin down in 11th position. That promoted his team-mate Ismail into second and Mealin into third, but the Manxman had to surrender the final podium position shortly after as Palmer overtook him at the Melbourne Hairpin.

Harri Newey was looking untroubled at the front and extended his advantage over Ismail to 2.179s as the Solihull racer was forced to look in his mirrors as the championship leader closed on him. Palmer made his move around the outside of Ismail at Redgate to regain his starting position as Haggerty moved up to sixth.

In the middle stages the race settled into a rhythm but as the leading cars came across the line to start the penultimate lap, the gap between Newey and Palmer was just 0.692s. Further back, Jack Lang had a big spin coming out of the Old Hairpin and he made contact with the barrier, putting him into retirement. South African Sisa Ngebulana and Fernando Urrutia clashed down the home straight, with the Mexican racer suffering front suspension damage and that would prove to be the end of his afternoon. There was also contact in the long running battle between Ismail and Mealin at the Melbourne Hairpin dropping them to fifth and seventh, Vaidyanathan and Haggerty the fortunate beneficiaries as they moved into third and fourth respectively.

Newey kept a cool head for the final lap, defending where necessary to keep his team-mate behind and he crossed the line 0.294s ahead to take his first BRDC Formula 4 win. Vaidyanathan secured the final podium spot in third, as a great drive from 10th on the grid netted Ciaran Haggerty fourth. Omar Ismail had to settle for fifth ahead of Lanan Racing's Jack Bartholomew and Chris Mealin. Jordan Albert took eighth, and pole position for race two tomorrow, with Akhil Rabindra and Tom Jackson rounding out the top 10.

After the race, Palmer was awarded a five second time penalty for track limits infringements but this did not alter the outcome of the race.

The top three drivers stepped on to the podium and were presented with their trophies by former British Touring Car driver and BRDC member, Mike O’Brien. Victor Harri Newey was also presented with The Muriel Tomlinson Trophy by the Donington Park Racing Association Club, an award given to the winner of a top level single-seater series race at the track.

Speaking after the race, Newey said: “I am really happy! We’ve been waiting a while and we’ve had the pace to win before so I’m glad to finally get it. When Will was closing I knew I had to speed up and I did my fastest lap on the second last lap so I knew I still had something in reserve. I couldn’t see the times on my dash so I didn’t know how much I had slowed down by but I wanted to save the tyres for the rest of the weekend. There’s also no point going for a qualifying lap each circuit, you’ve got to make sure to keep it on the track."

Newey’s win means he closes the gap to second placed Tom Jackson to just five points, with Palmer extending his advantage over Jackson to 92 points. By virtue of his fourth place, Ciaran Haggerty moves up to fourth in the standings ahead of Rodrigo Fonseca. Will Palmer can claim the 2015 title following race three tomorrow if he can extend his advantage over the second place driver to 95 points.

Race two begins at 11:10 Sunday, with the third and final race of the weekend being broadcast exclusively live on Motors TV from 15:50. You can follow all the action through live timing and updates on the official BRDC Formula 4 website.

Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship - Donington Park - Round 19

1. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, 12 Laps2. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, +5.294s3. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, +12.206s4. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +13.188s5. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, +14.689s6. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +15.866s7. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, +20.227s8. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +21.150s9. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, +23.693s10. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +24.609s11. Michael O’Brien, Chris Dittmann Racing, +25.230s12. James Reveler, 23 Racing, +31.519s13. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +38.441s14. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +40.411s15. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +1m17.113sDNF. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 10 LapsDNF. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, 9 LapsExcl. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, Excluded

2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship standings after race 19 of 24

1. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 447 points2. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, 355 points3. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, 350 points4. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, 319 points5. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, 303 points6. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 282 points7. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, 269 points8. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, 258 points9. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 225 points10. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, 170 points11. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 168 points12. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, 167 points13. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 164 points14. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, 160 points15. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, 152 points16. Michael O'Brien, Chris Dittmann Racing, 144 points17. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 141 points18. James Reveler, 23 Racing, 110 points19. Sebastian Lanzetti, Hillspeed, 89 points20. Hernan Fallas, Mark Godwin Racing, 59 points21. Joe Stables, JR Racing, 49 points22. Paul Sieljes, Chris Dittmann Racing, 34 points23. Marc Gonzalez, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 13 points