Hilton checks into title contention with Silverstone race one victory
Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing’s Luke Hilton claimed his second GB4 victory of the season in race one at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon.
The British driver qualified third, but took full advantage of a lap one scrap between front row starters Thomas Ingram Hill and Fred Green to lead the entire race, despite late pressure from Douglas Motorsport's Conor Grant.
After qualifying first and second for race one, Ingram Hill and Green made contact at Maggotts on the first lap, with both suffering from the consequences and finishing outside the points.
Qualifying
Fortec's Ingram Hill secured his first GB4 pole with a lap of 2m01.166s with over five minutes still remaining in the 15-minute session. He enjoyed a good margin over the field too, with over three tenths of a second in hand over Green, with Hilton third and KMR Sport's championship leader Alex O'Grady fourth.
Grant earned the best qualifying result of his rookie season with fifth ahead of Fortec's fellow rookie Franciszek Cegielski.
While Ingram Hill took pole for race one, it was Green who secured the honour for race two, with the grid based one each driver's second quickest times. The Elite Motorsport contender's second best effort of 2m01.554s was only 0.009s slower than his fastest, and will put him at the head of the pack for race two. Ingram Hill will be alongside him on the front row again, with Hilton, O'Grady, Cegielski and Pace Performance's Torrin Byrne completing the top-six.
Race one
Ingram Hill and Green went through Copse side by side at the start of lap one, and slight contact between the two at Maggotts ruined their races, with Green sustaining front wing damage and Ingram Hill sustaining a puncture. Both subsequently pitted.
That handed Hilton a golden opportunity to follow up his Donington Park treble podium with another victory, and he took it with both hands, leading every lap after opening up a lead of two seconds on the first lap. Grant from fifth on the grid capitalised too, and ran second throughout, even closing down the lead to Hilton to just a few tenths towards the end, but picked up a five second penalty for track limits.
Even so, the Irishman only dropped one place in the results, earning his first GB4 podium behind KMR Sport's championship leader O'Grady, who, like Hilton, benefited massively from the first lap tussle and now holds a strong lead in the championship standings.
Pace Performance's Josh McLean joined the lead scrap early on before settling for fourth ahead of Elite's Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso and Douglas Motorsport's Enzo Hallman.
After their lap one dramas, Green and Ingram Hill finished outside of the points in 23rd and 27th positions respectively.
O'Grady holds an extended 32-point lead at the top of the standings, while Hilton has jumped up to second ahead of Hillspeed's Enzo Hallman, with Green slipping to fourth.
Hilton said: “The team has done a mega job, we're just consistently chipping away. We've had the pace, we've been there in the window all through practice, but I didn't extract enough in qualifying. That's my fault, but the car is mega, and we've delivered something mega today and I'm so proud to have got a win for the team. It's such a nice feeling to get four podiums in a row, and get some really strong championship points."
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone qualifying top-six (race one grid):
1. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsports, 2m01.166s
2. Fred Green, Elite Motorsport, +0.379s
3. Luke Hilton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +0.678s
4. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +0.748s
5. Conor Grant, Douglas Motorsport, +0.828s
6. Franciszek Cegielski, Fortec Motorsports, +0.970s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race one top-six result:
1. Luke Hilton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 10 laps
2. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +4.357s
3. Conor Grant, Douglas Motorsport, +6.300s
4. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, +9.880s
5. Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso, Elite Motorsport, +10.311s
6. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, +11.880s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, drivers' championship standings after race 10 of 21:
1. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, 213pts
2. Luke Hilton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 181pts
3. Enzo Hallman, Hillspeed, 178pts
4. Fred Green, Elite Motorsport, 173pts
5. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, 148pts
6. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, 127pts
Click here for full standings
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, teams' championship standings after race 10 of 21:
1. Hillspeed, 305pts
2. Douglas Motorsport, 287pts
3. Pace Performance, 267pts
4. Fortec Motorsports, 255pts
5. KMR Sport, 249pts
6. Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 229pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net