Fortec Motorsport’s Nikolas Taylor claimed a fourth win of the season in the first GB4 Championship race of the weekend at Donington Park, to steal the championship lead. Taylor won the race from pole position and resisted late pressure to take a four-point margin at the top of the standings heading into tomorrow’s two contests.
Qualifying
Taylor claimed pole position for race one with the fastest lap in qualifying. His best time of 1m29.637s put him just 0.012s faster than Hillspeed’s Megan Gilkes who was second quickest, with then championship leader Alex Walker setting the third quickest time and only a tenth of a second further back.
Gilkes’ teammate Max Marzorati was fourth and within two-tenths of the pace, while newcomers Valour Racing and Daryl DeLeon claimed fifth ahead of Kevin Mills Racing’s Tom Mills. The top-seven drivers were within half a second of the pole position lap, with the top-10 covered by just over nine-tenths of a second.
Gilkes meanwhile, claimed her maiden pole position for race two, with the grid for that contest based on each driver’s second-fastest lap times.
Race one
Taylor made a good start from pole but Walker from third was able to draw alongside him at Redgate. Attempting to go around the outside, Walker was forced to back off, allowing Marzorati up into second.
Taylor was able to build an early gap of over two seconds, but Marzorati began to reel him in, taking Walker with him. With a third of the race remaining, just a second covered the top-three but when Walker made a mistake exiting the Old Hairpin, he dropped out of the fight and fell to fifth, leaving Marzorati to attack.
The Hillspeed driver was able to apply pressure, but Taylor held firm to win by just three tenths of a second. DeLeon made the most of the drama ahead of him to squeeze into third place, taking a podium on the single-seater debut not just for the driver, but the team too.
Mills claimed fourth ahead of Walker, while fellow Elite runner Jack Sherwood completed the top-six.
The championship standings have closed up even more, with just six points covering Taylor, Walker and Marzorati heading into tomorrow’s contests, with a prize tour of the Red Bull Racing F1 factory going to the driver at the top of the championship at the end of tomorrow.
Race one winner Taylor said: "It was pretty difficult, Max was catching me at the end and I just had to keep it calm. I made a mistake at the chicane and then he caught back up and then I think something happened to Alex, but I just tried to keep my head down.
"It’s quite hard to follow here so maybe that helped me out a bit. Tomorrow we’re starting from P3 so hopefully we can get some more good points."
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park qualifying top-six:
1. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 1m29.637s
2. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, +0.012s
3. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, +0.121s
4. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +0.192s
5. Daryl DeLeon, Valour Racing, +0.351s
6. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +0.444s
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GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race one top-six:
1. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 12 laps
2. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +0.332s
3. Daryl DeLeon, Valour Racing, +4.091s
4. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +6.930s
5. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, +7.167s
6. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, +7.536s
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GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Championship standings after race 10 of 24
1. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 223pts
2. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, 219pts
3. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, 217pts
4. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, 181pts
5. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, 169pts
6. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, 151pts
=. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, 151pts
Click here for full standings
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Teams’ Championship standings after race 10 of 24
1. Fortec Motorsport, 385pts
2. Elite Motorsport, 370pts
3. Hillspeed, 368pts
4. Kevin Mills Racing, 350pts
5. Graham Brunton Racing, 189pts
6. RossoVerde Racing, 57pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net