Newey and Palmer take wins as curtain comes down on 2015 Duo BRDC F4 Championship
The HHC Motorsport pairing of Harri Newey and Will Palmer shared the victories on Sunday (27 September) at Brands Hatch, as the 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 season came to a close on the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit. Although Palmer had already secured the title, the battle for second and third in the standings continued and it was Newey and Tom Jackson who grabbed those positions with podium finishes in the 24th and final race of the year.
In race two of the weekend, and the opening encounter of Sunday, Newey claimed a dominant win, his second victory of the year, as he came home over eight seconds clear of Jack Lang and Rodrigo Fonseca. Having started on pole by virtue of his eighth-place finish in race one on Saturday, he made a good start to lead into Paddock Hill with Jordan Albert moving up to third.
Newey began to extend his lead over Lang, leading by over two seconds at the end of lap three. Further back, Manxman Chris Mealin slid down the inside of 2015 Champion Will Palmer at Graham Hill Bend to take eighth. Up front, Sean Walkinshaw Racing’s Albert closed on Lang but couldn’t find a way past, which allowed Mexican Fonseca, who finished third in race one, to join the battle. The Lanan Racing driver soon got past Albert and began hounding Lang for second.
Palmer meanwhile was fighting back and passed Mealin for eighth, before disposing of the Manxman’s team-mate Jack Bartholomew for seventh. He then caught and overtook his HHC Motorsport team-mate Sisa Ngebulana for sixth, a position he would hold at the chequered flag.
Ahead, Newey extended his advantage and came home 8.522s clear of Lang in second, who drove a great defensive race to hold off Fonseca in third. The trio were presented with their trophies on the podium by Nissan LMP1 driver and BRDC member Harry Tincknell. Newey’s win gave him a 30-point advantage in the standings over Tom Jackson in third, as the Maidstone racer came home 12th, allowing Ciaran Haggerty to get within three points of him, and Fonseca eight, heading into the final race of the year.
Starting from pole position in race three, Will Palmer took a lights-to-flag victory with Newey and Jackson in second and third respectively. Off the start, the HHC Motorsport pair turned into Paddock Hill cleanly with Jackson making a lightning getaway to take third having started sixth. His main rival for third in the championship, Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Haggerty, made a slower start and dropped to eighth from his grid spot of third.
The 19 cars in the BRDC F4 field made it through the first few corners without incident but heading into Clearways, Chris Mealin, Omar Ismail and Fernando Urrutia all made contact with each other, putting the trio into retirement on the opening lap. The safety car was deployed to enable the marshals to clear up the incident and the rest of the pack was neutralised.
Palmer managed the restart well and began opening up his lead with a series of successive fastest laps, as Newey and Jackson held station in second and third. A number of battles developed in the field but passing was at a premium on the tight Indy Circuit.
As the field headed on to its final lap, the order remained the same and Palmer took the chequered flag 5.665s ahead of Newey, with Jackson only three tenths behind in third. The top-three in the race would also prove to be the top trio in the championship standings and they were firstly presented with their race trophies by BRDC member Grahame White, before receiving their championship trophies from Duo BRDC Formula 4 Series Director Jonathan Palmer.
By winning the 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 title, Will Palmer secured the championship prize package which consists of £35,000 cash, a GP3 test drive with ART Grand Prix and a special Pirelli award of €50,000 if he graduates to the GP3 Series.
Speaking after the race, 2015 Champion Palmer said: “It is amazing. To win half of the races this year is something I couldn’t have possibly dreamt of at the beginning of the season. I’m delighted that we have been able to be so successful this year so I have to say a big thank you to the team for that, because together over the last four years we’ve worked so well together and come a long way.”
The meeting also marked the last appearance of the Ralph Firman-designed BRDC F4 car which will be replaced from the 2015 Autumn Trophy onwards by the all-new Tatuus-Cosworth car. The Autumn Trophy gets underway with the first four races at Snetterton on November 7/8.Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship – Brands Hatch Indy – Round 23
1. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, 25 Laps2. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +8.522s3. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, +8.885s4. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +9.359s5. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +10.700s6. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, +14.386s7. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +16.643s8. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +17.276s9. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, +17.437s10. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, +18.943s11. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, +19.367s12. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +21.557s13. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, +23.460s14. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, +27.903s15. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +28.625s16. James Reveler, 23 Racing, +28.899s17. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +31.257s18. Joe Stables, JR Racing, +36.978s19. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1 Lap
Duo BRDC Formula 4 - Brands Hatch Indy - Round 24
1. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 24 Laps2. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, +5.665s3. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +5.971s4. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, +8.390s5. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +16.055s6. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +16.548s7. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +16.793s8. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +17.199s9. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, +17.802s10. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +17.892s11. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, +20.412s12. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +21.691s13. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +23.132s14. Joe Stables, JR Racing, +29.193s15. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, +31.647sDNF. James Reveler, 23 Racing, 21 LapsDNF. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, 0 LapsDNF. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 LapsDNF. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 0 Laps
2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship standings after race 24 of 24
C. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 592 points2. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, 455 points3. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, 420 points4. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, 409 points5. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, 406 points6. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 359 points7. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, 329 points8. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, 303 points9. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 260 points10. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, 244 points11. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 221 points12. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, 217 points13. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, 203 points14. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 201 points15. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 194 points16. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, 189 points17. Michael O'Brien, Chris Dittmann Racing, 150 points18. James Reveler, 23 Racing, 134 points19. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, 103 points20. Sebastian Lanzetti, Hillspeed, 89 points21. Joe Stables, JR Racing, 63 points22. Paul Sieljes, Chris Dittmann Racing, 34 points23. Marc Gonzalez, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 13 points
The 2015 Autumn Trophy gets underway at Snetterton on November 7/8, as the all-new, more powerful Tatuus-Cosworth makes its race debut.
