• Lando Norris secures overall championship crown, Enaam Ahmed the Rookie class title • An eighth race victory at Brands Hatch for Carlin man Norris and a first for TRS Arden driver Ahmed
A breathtaking penultimate day of action in the Ford EcoBoost-powered MSA Formula Championship saw Lando Norris set the seal on a brilliantly successful season, the Somerset 15-year-old securing championship victory with a win in the day’s first race and a seventh-place finish, right on the tail of his chief title rival Ricky Collard, in the second. Meanwhile another 15-year-old, Londoner Enaam Ahmed, took his maiden outright race win and with it the Rookie class championship title.
Norris needed to finish race two no more than one place behind Collard to earn enough points to put his tally beyond Ricky’s reach ahead of tomorrow’s final round and that’s exactly what the Carlin man achieved despite Collard’s best efforts to pull clear of his tenacious pursuer.
Lando succeeded despite a late start to the race caused by lengthy pre-event track repairs, which led to badly fading light, to emerge as the FIA Formula 4 Champion of Great Britain. He was delighted and relieved in equal measure: “It was a tough race and I’m really relieved to have got through it. It was getting so dark out there and at one stage I had to pass Dan Baybutt around the outside so that I could get on to Ricky’s tail; it was pretty scary. It was tough out there and hard to see. But I finished where I finished and the job is done, and now I can go out tomorrow in the final race and enjoy myself.”
ROUND 28: WIN NUMBER EIGHT FOR NORRISLando Norris led almost all the way at Brands Hatch this afternoon to clinch his eighth victory of the Ford EcoBoost-powered MSA Formula season, heading home his team-mate Colton Herta for what was the Carlin team’s 300th win in international motorsport. In so doing, Norris increasing his championship points lead over Ricky Collard – who finished third for TRS Arden. Other than for the first few yards of the race, Norris was in complete control. His only error came as the lights were extinguished to start the race and Herta made a better getaway from P2 on the grid to draw level with pole-sitter Lando as they hurtled towards Paddock Hill Bend. Said Norris: “Colton got a really good start and I didn’t get such a good one – he managed to get all the way alongside me pretty much but I think he maybe then missed a gear and that cost him. It could have been a completely different story but for that.”Norris dug in to lead Herta over the line at the end of the first lap by half a second, building his advantage to 1.7 seconds by the end of the sixth. Thereafter Herta bit back to make Norris work hard for his victory – at the line they were separated by just 0.478s. “Colton certainly kept me on my toes the whole race,” said Lando, who came to Brands Hatch just a week after a big crash at Hockenheim in German F4. “Pole, win and fastest lap – it couldn’t get any better, especially coming after my crash last weekend in Germany. Luckily I wasn’t injured but it was a bit of a worry coming into this weekend. My win means I will start from seventh in the reverse-grid race with Ricky ahead of me, and I will have to work hard to get as many points as I can.”Like Norris, Collard was beaten off the line by his team-mate, Enaam Ahmed’s TRS Arden machine getting clean in front through Paddock before Ricky reasserted himself at the Druids hairpin to reclaim third position. That was as much as Collard could do, however, his car lacking the pace of the Carlin machinery ahead. “It was like F4 versus F3 – the Carlin cars were in a league of their own,” said Ricky. “We just didn’t have the pace… Enaam made a really good start to pass me but I managed to get him around the outside into the hairpin. There was nothing I could do about Norris and Herta, though.”Ahmed shadowed Collard all the way to the line for fourth and a clear Rookie class win – his fourth of the season. Said Enaam: “I’m disappointed I couldn’t get a podium but my pace was very similar to Ricky’s and I couldn’t pass him. My only chance came at the start.”Sennan Fielding held fifth in the early stages for JHR Developments but front wing damage picked up in the pack in the early laps saw him retire to the pits after four laps. SWB Motorsport’s Rafael Martins took up the position, initially under pressure from James Pull (Fortec) until a sixth-lap clash between Pull and his pursuer, MBM Motorsport man Toby Sowery, gave Martins the break he needed to secure a top-five finish and second spot in the Rookie class. Sandy Mitchell (TRS Arden) profited from the Pull/Sowery clash to move up and finish sixth, completing the Rookie podium, ahead of JTR’s Dan Baybutt, Sowery, Carlin man Petru Florescu and Pull. It was a dismal race for Double R, with Matheus Leist forced on to the grass and out of the race at Graham Hill Bend on the opening lap and his team-mate Tarun Reddy retiring to the pits after just two laps. Ameya Vaidyanathan (JTR) and Darius Karbaley (Falcon) were casualties also, leaving just 14 finishers. Louise Richardson headed home Jack Butel for 11th with the finishing order completed by Greg Holloway and Josh Smith, who slipped to the tail of the field after a 10th-lap incident.ROUND 29: AHMED SNATCHES A LAST-LAP VICTORY FROM HIS TEAM-MATE
The race was a cracker from the outset, with Ricky Collard’s TRS Arden team-mates Sandy Mitchell and Ahmed getting storming starts from second and fourth on the grid. Mitchell overcame pole-sitter Dan Baybutt (JTR) through Paddock Hill Bend to take command of the race, with Ahmed relieving SWB Motorsport man Rafael Martins of second place on lap two. Mitchell and Ahmed then circulated nose-to-tail for the whole race, with Sandy ahead by a whisker and equal to his team-mate’s many challenges. But a slight error from Mitchell – by now suffering from a badly steamed-up visor – on the final lap gave Ahmed the inch he needed to launch an attack around the outside at Hawthorns, one of the quickest corners on the Brands Grand Prix circuit. It was a brave manoeuvre but it paid off for Enaam, who finished the final lap 1.1s clear of Sandy for his first MSA Formula win. “I got a run on Sandy at Surtees and carried the momentum down the hill,” said Enaam. “I got alongside him and thought ‘it’s the last lap – go for it’ and I kept it flat. Usually it’s not flat! I slid and we touched but I got through… Mad!”Added a disappointed Sandy: “I was a bit slow out of Surtees, and my visor was steamed up – I wouldn’t blame it on that but it didn’t help. It was all a bit unfortunate. We were both lucky to finish to be honest because we clipped wheels…”Martins drove his most convincing race since his Thruxton podium finish to keep tabs on the frontrunners throughout, and held off the much more experienced Toby Sowery (MBM Motorsport) to the end to make it an all-rookie podium 1-2-3, the first of the season. But all eyes were on the battle for fifth, which position was held from mid-distance onwards by Carlin’s Colton Herta. The American, struggling with tyre wear, had Collard in his mirrors all the way to the line, Ricky well aware that if he could put another car between himself and his pursuer Norris, he might be able to carry the championship battle down to the wire tomorrow.Herta held steady to the end for fifth, however, with Collard and Norris in line astern, just six-tenths separating them at the flag. Sennan Fielding (JHR), James Pull (Fortec) and Baybutt completed the top 10, ahead of Carlin’s Petru Florescu and Fortec man Josh Smith.Provisional results Brands Hatch GP 10 October 2015
Round 28: 14 laps / 34.06 miles 1 Lando NORRIS / GBR / Carlin 20m 31.783s / 99.56mph 2 Colton HERTA / USA / Carlin +0.478s 3 Ricky COLLARD / GBR / TRS Arden +8.957s 4 Enaam AHMED / GBR / TRS Arden +9.977s 5 Rafael MARTINS / BRA / SWB +21.783s 6 Sandy MITCHELL / GBR / TRS Arden +22.803s 7 Daniel BAYBUTT / GBR / JTR +22.980s 8 Toby SOWERY / GBR / MBM +24.899s 9 Petru FLORESCU / ROU / Carlin +26.907s 10 James PULL / GBR / Fortec +27.745s etcFastest lap Norris 1m 26.797s / 100.92mph Est RecRookie class 1 Ahmed; 2 Martins; 3 Mitchell; 4 Baybutt; 5 Florescu; 6 Josh SMITH / GBR / Fortec
Round 29: 14 laps / 34.06 miles 1 AHMED 20m 48.766s / 98.20mph 2 MITCHELL +1.177s 3 MARTINS +1.470s 4 SOWERY +1.507s 5 HERTA +3.793s 6 COLLARD +4.005s 7 NORRIS +4.443s 8 Sennan FIELDING / GBR / JHR +6.743s 9 PULL +10.541s 10 BAYBUTT +12.026s etc
Fastest lap Norris 1m 27.165s / 100.49mphRookie class 1 Ahmed; 2 Mitchell; 3 Martins; 4 Baybutt; 5 Florescu; 6 Smith; 7 Darius KARBALEY / GBR / Falcon; 8 Ameya VAIDYANATHAN / IND / JTR
Provisional championship standings 1 Norris 395 points; 2 Collard 367; 3 Herta 329; 4 Fielding 290; 5 Leist 267; 6 Dan Ticktum 242; 7 Mitchell 191; 8 Ahmed 161; 9 Martins 113; 10 Florescu 98 etcRookie class 1 Ahmed 414; 2 Ticktum 408; 3 Mitchell 383; 4 Baybutt 351; 5 Florescu 340 etc
