with Saturday victory at Race One  

Palmer takes Saturday victory as Newey tightens hold on 2015 runner-up spot

Will Palmer took pole position, race one victory and fastest lap today (Saturday 26 September), as he enjoyed the perfect start to the season finale weekend at Brands Hatch. The 18-year-old came home over nine seconds clear of the two Mexican drivers on the Duo BRDC Formula 4 grid, Fernando Urrutia and Rodrigo Fonseca, in race one, as Harri Newey took eighth to tighten his grip on the runner-up position in the championship standings.

In an extremely tight 20 minute qualifying session, with just 0.900s separating the entire field, Will Palmer took pole position ahead of the Mexican duo of Fernando Urrutia, who put in his best qualifying performance of the year, and Lanan Racing’s Rodrigo Fonseca.

In the early stages, a number of names appeared at the top of the timing screens including Chris Mealin, Fonseca and Sisa Ngebulana before 2015 BRDC F4 Champion Will Palmer, who was crowned last time out at Donington Park, posted a 45.361s to go fastest. The order changed behind Palmer with his HHC Motorsport team-mate Sisa Ngebulana slotting into second before he spun into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend, ending his session and bringing out the red flag.

Qualifying resumed with just under seven minutes left and Urrutia, Fonseca and Ciaran Haggerty all improved their times to move ahead of Ngebulana into second, third and fourth respectively. None of the trio could trouble Palmer’s time however and the 18-year-old took his ninth pole position of the year.

As the lights went out to start race one, Palmer came under pressure from fellow front-row starter Urrutia as the field dived into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. The Douglas Motorsport driver hung on around the outside of the BRDC Rising Star and edged his nose ahead into Druids. The HHC Motorsport man didn’t back off however and kept the inside line into the hairpin at the top of the track to retake the lead.

Apart from Omar Ismail, who was unable to get away from the grid, the rest of the pack made a clean start with Harri Newey getting past Jack Lang for ninth and Jordan Albert making up one place from his starting position of seventh, moving ahead of Jack Bartholomew.

As Palmer extended his advantage at the front, his team-mate Newey overtook Hillspeed’s Faisal Al Zubair to take eighth, and the provisional pole position for the reverse-grid race two. Further ahead, Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Haggerty attempted to get past Fonseca for third into Paddock Hill but lost momentum in the process and South African Ngebulana slipped through on the exit to move up to fourth.

On lap fourteen, Palmer posted a race best lap time of 45.393s, a new lap record, as he extended his lead over Urrutia to more than five seconds. Newey meanwhile tried to overtake Bartholomew for seventh at Druids, but went wide and allowed Lang to slip through to take eighth. Only a few laps later however, Lang made a clean move on Bartholomew in his distinctive orange-liveried car and Newey followed him through at Druids to reclaim eighth.

With two laps remaining, the order of the top-10 remained the same but that was to change when Sisa Ngebulana ran wide exiting Clearways and headed into the gravel. He managed to recover back on to the circuit but Haggerty and Albert profited from his misfortune, the duo moving up to fourth and fifth respectively.

As the chequered flag came out to end the 25-lap race, Palmer crossed the line 9.716s ahead of Urrutia, who claimed his first BRDC Formula 4 podium of the season, with his fellow Mexican Rodrigo Fonseca third. Haggerty settled for fourth ahead of Albert, Ngebulana and Lang, with Harri Newey claiming race two pole position with eighth. The Lanan Racing pairing of Jack Bartholomew and Chris Mealin rounded out the top-10.

The top-three drivers stepped on to the podium and were presented with their trophies by ex-Formula One driver and BRDC member, Max Chilton. Palmer’s win puts him 141 points clear of Newey in second, with Newey extending his lead over Tom Jackson to 14 points. Ciaran Haggerty is a further 10 points adrift in fourth, with Fonseca’s podium meaning he is 11 points behind the Scot in fifth.

Speaking after the race, Palmer said: “It felt really good. It is a great start to the weekend to take pole position and the win so I can’t complain at all. Hopefully we can keep this form going across the whole of the weekend. The Indy Circuit is a bit different to other tracks as we are doing 25 laps a race even though the race time is the same. It does feel like a longer race because of that so it is important to keep your concentration and focus throughout."

Races two and three of the weekend at Brands Hatch, and the final two races of the 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship, take place tomorrow (Sunday) with lights out at 11:20 and 15:45 respectively.

Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship - Brands Hatch Indy - Round 22

1. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 25 Laps 2. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, +9.716s 3. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, +10.298s 4. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +11.049s 5. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +12.380s 6. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +15.292s 7. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +18.399s/ 8. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, +18.903s 9. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +23.615s 10. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, +23.967s 11. Ameya Vaidyanthan, Hillspeed, +24.276s 12. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, +24.419s 13. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +24.924s 14. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, +25.217s 15. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +26.116s 16. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +27.832s 17. Joe Stables, JR Racing, +32.939s 18. James Reveler, 23 Racing, +33.380s DNF. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 Laps

2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship standings after race 22 of 24

C. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 542 points2. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, 401 points3. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, 387 points4. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, 377 points5. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, 368 points6. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 326 points7. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, 305 points8. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, 291 points9. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 258 points10. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, 205 points11. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, 197 points12. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, 190 points13. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 188 points14. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 187 points15. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 183 points16. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, 169 points17. Michael O'Brien, Chris Dittmann Racing, 150 points18. James Reveler, 23 Racing, 129 points19. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, 90 points20. Sebastian Lanzetti, Hillspeed, 89 points21. Joe Stables, JR Racing, 53 points22. Paul Sieljes, Chris Dittmann Racing, 34 points23. Marc Gonzalez, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 13 points