Elite Motorsport’s Isaac Phelps couldn’t have asked for a better start to his single-seater career, after claiming both pole positions and an excellent race one victory during GB4’s season opening Saturday at Donington Park.
The Ginetta Junior Winter Champion left it late to claim pole position in qualifying, and with two near identical laps, secured pole for both race one and race two.
He then controlled the first race of the year, launching into a lead of 1.7 seconds at the end of the first lap and winning from Hillspeed’s Dan Guinchard to take the early lead in the standings.
Qualifying
Qualifying proved that this year’s record 25-driver grid is not just big in numbers, but packed with quality too. In one of the tightest sessions in the championship’s history, Phelps may have claimed pole right at the end of the 15-minutes by a tenth of a second, but just 0.4 seconds covered the top-10 contenders, with little over a second splitting the top-20.
Phelps ended the session 0.122s clear of Fortec’s Jack Taylor, who claimed his first front row start in his second GB4 campaign with the team, with the second Elite car of Ary Bansal third.
Hillspeed duo Dan Guinchard and Leandro Juncos were fourth and fifth, and separated by just 0.002s, with Pace Performance’s Stefan Bostandjiev netting an excellent sixth on both his and his team’s single-seater debut.
Race one
Phelps made the most of his pole position to stretch an immediate lead on lap one, with his cause aided when Taylor and Bansal made the lightest of contact at Redgate, forcing both into the pits and promoting Bostandjiev and Guinchard into the top-three.
While Phelps streaked away, Guinchard dispatched Bostandjiev halfway around the opening tour, and then closed the 1.7 second gap to Phelps down to just over a second.
Phelps came on strong mid-race, extending his lead to three seconds, but with a lap to go he encountered traffic, allowing Guinchard to halve the gap. Phelps kept his cool though to cement an excellent start to life in single-seaters, crossing the line with a 1.3 second margin to the former Mercedes junior driver.
Elite’s Japanese-Greek contender Alex Kattoulas also had a great start to his season, climbing from seventh to the final step of the podium. Guinchard’s Hillspeed teammate Leandro Juncos claimed fourth after two superb late braking moves on Luke Hilton and Bostandjiev at the Melbourne Hairpin.
Douglas Motorsport’s Hilton completed the top-five, just ahead of teammate Enzo Hallman, who gained three spots during the 18-minute encounter. All 25 cars finished the first race of the season, with the new Tatuus MSV GB4-025 cars continuing GB4’s tradition of delivering exciting single-seater racing.
The second race of the weekend is due to start at 10.10am on Sunday morning, with Phelps aiming to make it two wins in a row.
Race one winner Isaac Phelps said: "This feels really good, from double pole to a race win in my first race. There's so many people to thank, and it was a brilliant race. Starting on the new tyres was quite sketchy for my first single-seater race, so I struggled at the start but once they came in I found good pace. It was nerve-wracking to say the least!
"My teammate Alex went from P7 to P3 so a pretty good drive from him too, and I think Elite has got it right for this year!"
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park qualifying top-six:
1. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, 1m27.724s
2. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +0.122s
3. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, +0.178s
4. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +0.185s
5. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +0.187s
6. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance, +0.255s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race one top-six:
1. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, 13 laps
2. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +1.360s
3. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, +3.996s
4. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +9.584s
5. Luke Hilton, Douglas Motorsport, +10.038s
6. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, +11.143s
Click here for full results
GB4 Championship, drivers' championship standings after race one of 21:
1. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, 35pts
2. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, 29pts
3. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, 24pts
4. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, 21pts
5. Luke Hilton, Douglas Motorsport, 19pts
6. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, 17pts
Click here for full standings
GB4 Championship, teams' championship standings after race one of 21:
1. Elite Motorsport, 59pts
2. Hillspeed, 50pts
3. Douglas Motorsport, 36pts
4. Graham Brunton Racing, 25pts
5. Pace Performance, 19pts
6. Fortec Motorsports, 15pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net