Fortec Motorsports’ Jack Taylor stormed to his second victory of the weekend in an enthralling second race of the weekend at Silverstone, before Pace Performance’s Stefan Bostandjiev claimed his and the team’s first single-seater victory in a tense third race this afternoon.
Race two
Taylor had been scheduled to start from pole, having done the same yesterday, but rain on the formation lap led to 23 of the 25 drivers opting to pit for wet weather tyres, leaving only Arden’s Ava Dobson and Graham Brunton Racing’s Mayer Deonarine to start from the grid on slicks from 16th and 18th respectively.
The duo launched tentatively from the line, with Deonarine taking the lead on the run to Stowe on the first lap. Meanwhile, the pitters, headed by Taylor, joined the contest but a long way behind.
But with rain continuing to fall it wasn’t long before Taylor caught up, passing Dobson on lap two and then Deonarine at Club the next time around. The Australian rocketed into the distance, extending a gap of over 15 seconds in a single lap, but saw his advantage wiped out after Elite’s Alex Kattoulas crashed at Stowe.
The race resumed with just one lap remaining, with Deonarine somehow still second on his slick tyres. But the safety car negated his strategy, and the pack poured past him with Hillspeed’s Leandro Juncos gaining several places on the final lap to clinch second ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s weekend debutant Arjen Kraling, who claimed the final podium spot off Thomas Ingram Hill just a couple of corners from home. Ingram Hill had to settle for fourth ahead of KMR’s Alex O’Grady, with Elite’s Isaac Phelps completing the top-six.
Race three
With a return to more conventional weather conditions, Bostandjiev launched from third on the grid in the finale to take the lead at Copse on lap one, passing pole driver Jason Pribyl.
The Bulgarian held the lead from there, but it was a tense affair as Juncos and Elite’s Ary Bansal set about claiming victory for themselves. Bostandjiev had held a decent lead early on, but despite plenty of squabbling, Juncos and Bansal became glued to the back of the Pace Performance car.
But Bostandjiev’s cause was aided by the battle behind, with Juncos and Bansal frequently going wheel to wheel and allowing the leader to occasionally just stretch out a small advantage in the process.
A slipstream battle for the lead formed in the closing stages, but last lap fireworks were denied by the smoking car of Pribyl at the pit entry, necessitating a red flag halfway around the final tour.
Bostandjiev was therefore victorious with just a four tenths of a second margin to Juncos, who claimed his second successive podium with Bansal third.
Ingram Hill was fourth again, ahead of Phelps, while Hillspeed’s championship leader, Dan Guinchard, somehow climbed from 17th on the grid to sixth. Despite a difficult qualifying session and three lowly starting positions, he still emerged from the event with a 35-point gap to his rivals in the championship battle, just one point less than at the start of the weekend.
Race two winner Taylor said: “It started raining [on the green flag lap] and I felt it started losing grip, so the real deciding factor was if it continued raining. I just saw it was going to keep raining, and I came in at the last second. It was a very good pit stop by the team, I was very happy with the team, and I just went out, went along and then nailed the safety car restart.
“I knew I’d be fine [after the safety car restart] the track was kind of damp, so I was kind of worried if it dried a lot, and if someone behind was on slicks, I might have been in trouble, but it didn’t really dry out enough, so I got away again.”
Race three winner Bostandjiev said: “It’s amazing and I’m very happy for the team. I think it’s no secret we’ve been struggling for the last couple of rounds for top speed. We ran negative wing at the rear to try and find top speed because we’ve been a bit down on the straights, and I somehow managed to survive sector one and two, which were pretty hairy! Juncos was always gaining time on me there, but mega from the team, we took a bit of a risk and it paid off.”
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race two top-six result:
1. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsport
2. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +3.022s
3. Arjen Kräling, Douglas Motorsport, +3.356s
4. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsport, +3.953s
5. Alex O’Grady, KMR Sport, +5.157s
6. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, +5.249s
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GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race three top-six result:
1. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance
2. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +0.474s
3. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, +0.924s
4. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsport, +1.299s
5. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, +1.570s
6. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +1.879s
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GB4 Championship, drivers' championship standings after race 15 of 21:
1. Daniel Guinchard, Hillspeed, 293pts
2. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, 258pts
3. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, 250pts
4. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, 228pts
5. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, 195pts
6. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 191pts
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GB4 Championship, teams' championship standings after race 15 of 21:
1. Elite Motorsport, 592pts
2. Hillspeed, 483pts
3. Fortec Motorsports, 429pts
4. Douglas Motorsport, 425pts
5. KMR Sport, 298pts
6. Graham Brunton Racing, 295pts
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For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net